Perfectly Aligned
by BritishObsessed
Summary: An Olitz story. AU. Fitz and Mellie are happy together after spending their summer together. Fitz feels like he's getting some happiness in his life and that finally everything is perfectly aligned. But when Fitz comes to visit Mellie at college, he meets the terrifyingly beautiful, intelligent Olivia Pope and sees that his way to happiness is to make her his—but it won't be easy.
1. Introductions

**This idea just came to me literally the morning that I started writing this so I'm just going to go with it. It came to me when I thought about how radio silent my friends have been this summer and then I thought about how maybe one of them found love this summer and how it would be if they introduced their bae to me and my friends, only for him to fall in love with another one of our friends—sad, I know, but I thought it'd make for a good Scandal story. This is technically my first Fanfic that I've posted (I'm working on another one that will likely blow your socks off). You'll see that several things in this story are very different (like the fact that Mellie and Olivia start off as friends—something I decided to do because I think that if Olivia were not sleeping with Fitz, she and Mellie could've actually been friends) and a few are the same (Olitz, of course). Anyway, I hope you like it.**

Chapter 1: Introductions

As he lay on his bed in his Harvard dorm, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III can't help but reminisce about how much things have changed in the past three months. It was a sunny day in early June when Fitz met Melody Hamilton. Their fathers were meeting at his father's, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant II or as everyone liked to call him Big Gerry, ranch in Santa Barbara to discuss business and both gentlemen just so happened to make sure that their kids came along. Fitz knew that his father had been trying to set him up for quite some time. Fitz knew that his father wanted to set him up with a girl who would be perfect to get him the title of governor of California, and eventually a shot at the White House. And after three girls being presented in the same fashion, it was just short of prostitution really, Mellie had finally been the right one for him. At first they had been extremely awkward around each other. They knew that their relationship had been put in place to strictly honor a business agreement but they had tried to make the best of it. He took her out on a few dates, they found out that they had more in common than two greedy fathers, and before they knew it, they were a happy couple. As they started to spend more time together, even entire days, he started to get to know her a little more and found things that he didn't like, like the fact that she couldn't really have a deep conversation for more than two minutes and it was almost impossible for her to refrain from directing their conversations to being about her. Nevertheless, he still liked her a lot more than the previous girls his father had presented to him. Maybe he even loved her; at least that's what he kept telling himself. He knew that he was settling with her, but she was a good settle. He was just glad to have some stability in his life—he was in his last year of law school and already had a few law firms looking to hire him. He'd work as a lawyer for the next decade and then get in position to run for governor. He now had a girlfriend who he hoped to make his wife someday and she was the perfect politician's wife—and the best part was that he finally had his father off of his back now that he was following the plan that had always been set up for him. He was also a lot happier than he had been in a long time which would have made his mother glad to see if a brain tumor hadn't taken her away from him three years ago. She always sensed a sadness and longing in her son since he was a kid but she never knew exactly what the problem was, except of course relations with his father. She always told him to do what made him happy, regardless of what anybody thought and if he wanted something badly enough, he should chase after it, but after she died, Fitz felt himself sink back further into his hole of sadness—that is until he met Mellie and she gave him hope again. He felt as if this was the longing his mother had been talking about except he didn't have to fight for Mellie. She was kind of just given to him on a silver platter and it worked out. He's happy. Everything is finally perfectly aligned.

He hears his phone ringing and flips on his side to reach for it. It's Mellie.

"Hey," he answers.

"Hey, handsome. How are you?" Mellie says excitedly. Fitz can hear giggling in the background, something he's heard during all of their conversations for the past week, and figures she's with her friends.

"I'm good. How's Berkeley?"

"It's really great, but I wish you were here. Spending three months together and then being apart for almost two weeks is really starting to do a number on me." He hears some 'aww's in the background and now knows that the primary reason she's calling him is so that her friends can get a look at their relationship firsthand. She's showing him off, which he doesn't mind too much, but it would be nice for them to have a private conversation occasionally.

"I know me too. I miss you more than you know." More 'aww's.

"Don't forget to say 'hi' to all your friends for me." The girls giggle, knowing they've been found out.

"Will do. So, Fitz, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and stay this weekend, just until Sunday. I would come to visit you but I think it'd just be awkward and besides, everyone really wants to meet you."

"Yeah, I guess I could, but I can only leave around two in the afternoon tomorrow because I have some really important classes I can't miss, so I'd probably get there around…seven."

"That's perfect! We can go out for dinner—there's this really nice restaurant I've been dying to try out but daddy says that I've over spent this month, so he cut me off, embarrassing, I know—but that's not the only reason I want you to come. I do _really_ want to see you."

And he believes her so he agrees to go. "Okay, great! See you tomorrow then. I love you," Mellie says.

"I love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

He hangs up and books a first class flight for the next day. He remembers he was meeting some friends at a local bar for drinks—something he and a group of guys he met when he started at Harvard having been doing for the past few Thursdays.

He walks into the bar and sees his group and the rest of the regulars for Thursday, except for some guy that he recognized, Eddie or something, harassing a few girls. He was also in his last year of law school and in most of Fitz's classes. He was a smart dude and all the professors loved him but he was also a womanizer and a straight-up douchebag.

"Hey, Fitz! Over here!" Blake shouts, a little too loudly. Fitz takes a seat with the rest of the guys. "'Ordered you up a margarita already."

"I'll just take a beer," Fitz says to the bartender.

"Not feeling like going heavy today?" Lucas asks and Fitz just shrugs.

"Jake's already had two beers and three shots and he hasn't even been here for ten minutes."

Fitz nods toward Jake, the only freshman in their group of drinking buddies, who somehow managed to get a fake ID saying he was over twenty-one. He seemed like a good kid but he had been down a lot lately. "What's up with you now?"

"He's upset about his girlfriend," Blake says for him.

"Still?" Fitz asks.

"Not my girlfriend anymore."

"What even happened between you two anyway?"

Jake shrugs. "We had been dating for four months and then, she, I, and two other friends of ours went traveling through Europe for the summer. We just started drifting apart and then I thought she was cheating on me…she was always so secretive—other guys who had dated her before said that but I decided to take the chance. And it was worth it because she was great, I thought we had something but she never let me meet her parents, even once we got close. I don't even remember how many times she's met mine but she never let me anywhere near home, she never talked about her family and after a while I just got fed up. She didn't even seem that upset when we broke things off."

"That really sucks, man," is all Fitz can say. He's never been in love with anyone to the point of heartbrokenness. Sure he had a few high school girlfriends and after that a long list of one night stands, but Mellie's the closest he's come to being in love.

"Yeah…she's really smart though. She wants to go to law school. She's a freshman at Berkeley."

"Hey, Fitz, isn't that where your girl's going?" One guy, whose name Fitz hasn't even bothered to learn, asks.

"Um, yeah…"

"Is she hot?" Blake asks with a sly grin on his face.

Jake raises his brows at him and says mockingly, "Yeah, _smokin'…_"

"You gotta a picture to back that up?"

"No, I deleted them all because I was so…" Jake suddenly stops, seeing what's going on which makes Fitz laugh. "No, no, no, you're not dating her, none of you are. I remember you saying, Lucas, that you always travel down to California for whatever reason—you know what? Now I'm not even going to tell you what her name is," Jake says, chugging down the last of his drink.

"Relax, some of my family lives there," Lucas says, putting his hands up in defense, "And besides, if I wanted to go after some freshman meat, there are plenty of 'em up here."

"She's not like that. She was exceptional—she _is_ exceptional," Jake says, putting on his coat and starting to walk away. "And I'm going to get her back."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia kicks the door of Mellie's dorm shut with her leg, while carrying two large bowls of popcorn for the five other girls—Mellie, Abby, Quinn, Lauren, and Rachel—waiting impatiently for the snack so that they can start the movie. None of the girls had much homework to do, an abnormality for a Thursday night, and once Quinn found out that Mellie had never seen _The Breakfast Club_, she rushed all of the girls down there and got her Netflix ready.

Olivia expected all the girls to be already settled in their comfortable positions for the evening but instead they were all huddled around Mellie, gushing.

"What's going on?" Olivia asks cautiously.

"Just another call to Mr. Handsome," Quinn says.

"Yeah, I invited him to come and visit this weekend and he said yes!" Mellie exclaimed.

"Cool. Finally we'll get to meet him," Olivia says, trying to return the excitement, but she's more relieved than excited. Of course she's happy that Mellie finally found someone to hold onto after all of the guys she's went through in the past. She and Mellie had met in high school when Olivia was a junior and Mellie was a senior, and they had managed to become pretty good friends. But they drifted apart when Mellie moved on to college and reconnected in the spring when Olivia was accepted into Berkeley. Mellie didn't contact Olivia much over the summer, which Olivia didn't mind much since she was busy having fun in Europe, but once they started school, all Mellie could talk about was her precious Fitzgerald. Mellie had told them all everything about him, including showing them countless pictures of him. Olivia secretly admitted that he was extremely handsome and even developed a mini crush on him, which quickly went away because Mellie kept talking about him nonstop. She just hoped that after this visit, Mellie would at least stop forcing all of them to listen in on her and Fitz's conversations— _at least_!

"Well, let's start this movie, guys. I've got a morning class that I cannot afford to fall asleep in—again," Olivia says, placing one bowl of popcorn on the ground with the rest of the girls and taking the other with her and wedging herself on Rachel's, Mellie's roommate, bed between Abby and Lauren, two of Olivia's close friends.

They were halfway through the movie when Olivia's phone started flashing from a call. The number is one that she unfortunately recognizes and doesn't want to hear from, so she declines. But the person continues to call her relentlessly for the next five minutes.

"Someone has a fan," Abby whispers with a smile.

Olivia shakes her head and whispers back, "No, it's _him_ again."

"I thought you two stopped talking like three weeks ago."

"We did. He only calls now when he's drunk," she says, finally deciding to just turn off her phone. "Do you still talk to him?"

"Well, no. I was really never that close to him anyway, and now that you guys have broken up, there's really no reason for me to stay in touch. Besides, he was weird—there just seemed to be something off about him. Maybe it came from him being a military brat. I know he adored you, but you can do so much better, honey." Rachel shushes them to keep quiet. Olivia shrugs back at Abby and then turns back to the screen, trying to focus on the movie. She had been happy with Jake for a while but the more time she spent with him, like the three months they were in Europe together, she began to see his true colors. He'd get mad when she didn't agree with him on something or when she didn't feel like giving into his sexual 'needs' as he called it. She started to get fed up and just decided to end it the day they got back from their trip. She hasn't seen him since then and only took his drunken calls to tell him to leave her alone, and that was weeks ago. She was getting tired of it and was beginning to consider changing her number like Abby suggested she do. She just wished that one day she could find someone good for her.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next day, Friday, Fitz is right on schedule, leaving Massachusetts by two and arriving at a hotel close to Berkeley around seven in the evening. He would've gotten to Mellie's dorm sooner but he decided to stop by a nearby flower shop and get a whole bouquet of roses just to be charming. He made the reservation at the restaurant she wanted to go to for 8pm just in case she wanted to take her time introducing him to her friends. He was hoping to have a few moments to wait outside her door because he was actually kind of nervous to meet everyone, which was strange, but he couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen that he wasn't prepared for. However he saw that he wasn't going to get that moment to himself as soon as he saw a girl peek out of the room and then go back inside, squealing, "He's coming!"

He smiled and then walked in. "Hey, everyone."

"Fitz!" Mellie exclaimed, throwing herself onto him. He moved the roses out of the way just in time and hugged her back. He took in the overly-crowded room, filled with four other girls and two guys, smiling awkwardly at him.

"You got these for me?" Mellie asks, as Fitz takes the roses from behind his back.

"Of course." Mellie and the other four girls smile heartwarmingly at him.

"I love you," Mellie says, kissing him on the lips, slowly deepening the kiss.

Fitz carefully pushes her backs, not wanting to get too intimate already in front of her friends, "I love you, too."

"So, honey, let me introduce you. I've already told you so much about everyone but now you can put faces to the names." Mellie had mentioned a lot about her friends and several other people, with most comments not being so nice, but nevertheless, he knew a lot about the people in this room.

"This is Rachel, my roommate, Quinn, and Huck—they're sophomores," Mellie says, gesturing towards a perky looking blonde, a brunette girl, and a shy-looking, husky-built guy. "And Abby, Lauren, and Harrison…" A redhead, a nervous-looking Indian girl, and a suave-seeming black guy. Mellie started looking around the room. "Hey, where's…?"

"I'm over here," says a quiet, beautiful voice. Stepping out from behind Rachel and Quinn is the most gorgeous girl Fitz has ever laid his eyes on. She finally looks up into his eyes and he sees the most beautiful, chocolate-brown doe eyes staring back at him. He looks at her perfect, gloss-covered, full lips and has to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and start kissing the crap out of them. He feels like running his hands all over her flawless caramel skin and never letting her go. He focuses back on her eyes and can see everything he's ever wanted and longed for in them. He struggles as he comes to a realization that everything he thought before is totally false and that the only way to complete himself and to perfectly align his path is with her. This instant connection makes him realize that the only way to be truly happy is with her—_what the heck are you thinking, Fitz?_ He asks himself. _You are here for Mellie,_ SHE'S _you're girlfriend, not some girl you just met several seconds ago who you know nothing about._ He briefly snaps out of it, just long enough to say, "Hi."

She smiles back and he's immediately engulfed in her spell again. Even though he can tell that the smile is a bit forced, he still thinks that it's the cutest thing in the world. He can only imagine how her _real_ smile must look. "Hi," she says back quietly still, probably because Fitz is looking at her like he's going to pounce on her any second now.

Mellie clears her throat. "This is—"

"Olivia," the girl says, now taking on a whole new confident demeanor, which Fitz loves, but he can see that she's still just as nervous as him.

"Yeah…the last of the freshmen," Mellie adds, inching closer to Fitz, making him almost cringe away from her but he stops himself at the last second.

He manages to open his mouth again and comes out with, "Nice to meet you, Olivia…?"

"Pope. Olivia Pope," Olivia answers, now not even trying to hide the confusion on her face at his strange behavior, since Fitz hadn't said as much as a single word to any of Mellie's other friends, much less ask for their last names.

"I'm—I'm Fitz," he says back in his dazed state and immediately regrets it. _Of course she knows you're Fitz, you idiot_, he chastises himself.

Olivia smiles for real now, totally melting Fitz's heart and jokes, "Yeah, I kinda got that." And everyone, including him, laughs. She has a laugh that Fitz can find himself listening to on replay for hours, and he can't help but smile even more, even once all the laughing is done.

One thing was for sure, though—that night his fate was sealed. He would stop at nothing to make her his. He would climb mountains, cross rivers, and the whole shebang to ensure that she was with him for the rest of their days. But there was just one problem—what about Mellie?

**So, what about Mellie? We shall find out soon, maybe, but until then, I hope you liked this first chapter. Please please please comment and tell me what you think. Thanks!**


	2. Party Time

**I'm so very thankful for all the nice and encouraging reviews. You should've seen my face the morning I woke up and saw 40-something notifications from Fan Fiction having to do with this story. I seriously went nuts because I didn't even expect to get a single review for at least month. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for believing in this story's potential! I promise I'll make it the best that it can be—I already have a lot of great things in store for the Scandal gang and you lovely readers, so stay tuned! Without further ado, I give you chapter two! (that rhymes)**

Chapter 2: Party Time

Olivia and her friends were all ready to head out to a party that night not too far from the university and would get going as soon as Fitz showed up. Right now they were all crowded in Mellie's room, waiting for him and everyone, mostly the girls, were excited to finally meet him in person. Olivia had been in a good mood up until Jake started calling again. She was starting to get so freaking tired of having to shut off her phone every time he harassed her and decided that she was done playing the nice ex-girlfriend with him. She excused herself from the group and locked herself up in Mellie and Rachel's bathroom. If things got heated, she doubted anyone would hear her since everyone was so loudly talking.

"Jake, I swear that if you call me one more time, I'm changing my number," she threatens, fuming.

"Wait, Liv, just hear me out—"

"No! I don't want to hear you out anymore. I told you I was done."

"We can't just be done. Come on, Liv, just tell me what went wrong and I promise we'll fix it. We'll fix it, just, please, I want you back—I _need_ you back…" he pleads, slurring his words, which tells her that he's drunk again. Why couldn't he just get a life and stop acting like a drunken asshole?

"Well, I don't want or need you back. I'm trying to move on and I suggest for your own well-being that you do too."

"I can't move on, not with the way we left things. If you just tell me what happened, I _know _we can fix it."

"No, we can't, because I know that you can't change the way you are, Jake, and I don't want to be with someone who doesn't respect me or my values."

"But I _do_ respect you! I adore you, Liv!" he yells, sounding somewhere in between getting angry and crying. This is pathetic.

"I have to go, Jake. This is done, so don't _ever_ call me again."

"No, no, no, Liv, wait—"

"Oh, and by the way, I'm going out tonight, I'm going to have fun, and maybe if I'm lucky, find me a new mister, because at this point, anyone I go out with is hundred times better than you. Goodbye, Jake." And with that she ends the call. She takes a deep breath and tries to get her heart rate back down, refusing to let Jake of all people ruin her night. She pulls out some make up from her little purse and touches up a bit before heading back out. While she's doing so, the commotion from outside dies down so that she's able to hear a smooth, baritone voice filling up the walls. She quickly stuffs her make up back into her bag and peeks out of the bathroom, and sure enough, standing in front of the room as the center of everyone's attention is Fitzgerald Grant.

She has to admit that he looks ten times better in person, even though he appears a little tired, probably from his flight, but he looks like he would be ready to do a photo shoot for GQ magazine right then and there. His chocolate-y brown hair is combed in perfect waves, he's wearing a white V-neck that shows off the definition on his chest with a brown leather jacket over and a pair of jeans that fit him nicely, along with some brown loafers, and he's holding a whole bouquet of roses in his hands. He looks so perfect and Olivia can't help but stare dreamily at him, which seems to be okay since every other girl in the room is doing the same. As he goes around the room, smiling at everyone as Mellie introduces him, Olivia nearly goes weak at the knees at his teeth-filled grin. She feels like running to him and throwing herself into his arms and never letting go—_What the heck are you thinking? _She catches herself _Cut it out! That's Mellie's boyfriend, and besides, you have boyfriend problems of your own and aren't really in the mindset to start dating again_. She literally shakes her head in an attempt to help rid her mind of all the sexy thoughts of him coursing through her thoughts and tries to calm down again—that is, until she hears Mellie call out, "Hey, where's…?"

Olivia clears her throat and quietly utters, "I'm over here," stepping out from behind Rachel and Quinn. She summons up the courage to look up at him and is immediately entranced by his gorgeous, friendly, stormy blue eyes. As she keeps staring, she feels as if she's being hypnotized and slowly drifting off into a world so different from her own. One where she's happy and at peace and doesn't feel so alone because she's not—because she has _him_. She struggles to keep her breathing normal and finally tears her eyes away from his, knowing that she can't do this, not in front of all these people—especially Mellie.

"Hi," he says, with a smile that makes her heart flutter.

"Hi," she manages to choke out, slapping something that feels close to a smile on her face and fighting to keep from looking into those captivating eyes.

Mellie clears her throat. "This is—"

"Olivia," Olivia says, feigning confidence.

"Yeah…the last of the freshmen," Mellie feels the need to add as she slowly inches towards Fitz, who flinches at her touch.

Fitz, who hasn't taken his eyes off of Olivia since he saw her, says, "Nice to meet you, Olivia…?"

"Pope. Olivia Pope," she answers, confused as to why he just asked for her last name when he didn't do that with anybody else and now seeing that he's looking at her a bit strangely, with so much interest. Does he recognize her from somewhere? Because she doesn't remember even seeing him before Mellie became involved with him.

"I'm—I'm Fitz," he stutters, making her cock her head at him and smile genuinely.

"Yeah, I kinda got that," she jokes, hoping to put him at ease, which works because everyone, including him, starts laughing. She sees him smiling even after everyone has stopped laughing, which wouldn't bother her if he wasn't smiling directly at _her_. _Could it be possible that he—no that's ridiculous! He _loves_ Mellie, and she loves him_. And he also doesn't strike Olivia as the man-whore type. She tries to push the thoughts of him having a thing for her as far away from her mind as possible and just to be sure, makes a mental note not to get too close to him while he's here. He was just going to be there for the weekend and then she wouldn't have to see him for a long time. She'd be alright.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz can't help but marvel and nearly salivate at Olivia's beautiful, petite frame in a short-length, sleeveless, black Bodycon dress. Her hair is pressed in waves flowing past her shoulders and her fruit punch lips are just begging to be kissed. He senses that he's starting to make her uncomfortable and finally looks away for the first time since he's laid eyes on her. He sees that the rest of the girls, except for Mellie, are dressed up in a similar fashion and comes to the conclusion that they're going out to a party.

After a few more minutes of discussion, Harrison says, "Okay, well maybe we should all get going then. From what I've heard, this guy's parties get wild pretty quickly and I don't want to miss any of the action." He wiggles his eyebrows at Huck, who smiles coyly, making Abby roll her eyes at them.

"Oh, well, I didn't know that we were going to a party instead," Fitz says to Mellie, "but I can just call over to the restaurant and cancel the reservation—"

But Mellie stops him before he can whip out his phone. "No, need, honey. _They're_ going out to party," she says gesturing to everyone except for her and Fitz, "but we're going out to a nice restaurant for a romantic evening." She latches onto his arm lovingly but he just kind of stands there stiffly.

"Oh, okay," Fitz says, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. Sure, he had been fine with going out for a nice dinner with Mellie and then going back to his hotel to finish the night off, but the longer he was around Olivia, the more he realized that he never wanted to be apart from her again.

They all headed outside together and then separated once they got in their cars. Fitz and Mellie arrive at the restaurant right on time. She orders the most expensive dishes, as Fitz expected she'd do, but he doesn't mind because it's not like he can't afford it. Even though this night is supposed to be about Mellie, while she goes off her critical tangents of people she doesn't like, Fitz finds his mind drifting towards thoughts of Olivia. He thinks about how much fun she must be having and how luminously her beautiful smile must be as a result. The image of her dancing comes into his mind and his heart flutters as he imagines her shaking her hips from side to side. He starts thinking about any guy lucky enough to dance with her and immediately feels a rising in his chest from jealousy. _Stop it, Fitz. She's not yours so you don't get to be jealous, and stop thinking about her._ But even when he'd try and push her away from his mind for even a minute, she somehow kept finding her way back into his thoughts. Mellie eventually noticed that Fitz's mind was elsewhere and started to make her rants shorter, making Fitz realize that his occasional 'mmhmm's and 'oh, really's weren't as effective as he thought.

Finally Mellie just stops all together and asks him, "Do you want to go and finish this at the hotel?"

And before Fitz knows what's coming out of his mouth, he says, "How about we go to that party your friends went to?"

"You really want to go?" Mellie says with a frown. "It's nothing special, you know. Just a bunch of crazy kids dancing and drinking until they're piss drunk."

"I know, but I think that it'd be fun."

"And you don't think that this is fun…" Mellie concludes.

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just—"

"It's okay. We can go," she says, getting up and putting on her sweater. "I already know where the place is."

With that, they head out to the party at about ten. Fitz drives faster than normal, like a dog being let off his leash. The party is in a rich neighborhood, at a mansion that reminds Fitz a lot of the one he grew up in, especially once he sees the huge lawn already littered with beer bottles and someone passed out, which makes Fitz briefly reminisce about all the wild parties he hosted at his house. There are so many people that Fitz has to park his car rental far down the street and he and Mellie spend almost five minutes walking to get back to the house. They go in through the back, which is wide open for all to come in, while dodging a few crazies on the way. The backyard is filled to the max with people lounging around and talking or drinking, and people moving their bodies to extremely loud music. Fitz grips Mellie's hand tighter so that he doesn't lose her as they try to navigate through the crowd. After almost ten minutes of searching for Mellie's friends, Fitz is ready to just forget about it and go to the hotel when he spots Huck, Rachel, and Lauren standing around in a slightly less crowded area of the backyard.

"Hey," Fitz greets, yelling over the loud music.

"Hey! Glad you guys could make it but what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you two until at least noon tomorrow," Rachel says back with a sly smile on her face.

"Yeah, well, Fitz thought that we should hang around here for a while, so here we are," Mellie says back with fake enthusiasm which Fitz disregards.

"So, where is everyone else?" He asks, hoping to see Olivia.

Lauren shrugs. "I just saw Quinn and Abby waltz through here—oh there they are," she says pointing behind Fitz and Mellie. He turns around and smiles, finding exactly what he was looking for. In the middle of a small, stuffy crowd is Abby and Olivia, rocking their bodies to the music with Harrison sandwiched between them in the middle. He carefully watches Olivia as she laughs, singing along to "Fancy", looking like she's having the time of her life. He continues to watch until some random dude comes out of nowhere and starts grinding on her, but he becomes even more upset when she just lets the guy do it.

"How about we go dance?" He asks Mellie and she nods yes. He takes her hand and takes them to a spot far away enough from Olivia that he doesn't have a perfect view of her but so that he can still sneak peeks. He knows that he's acting like a creeper but he really can't help himself. How could he not keep his eyes off of someone so beautiful? Of course, Mellie was also attractive but Fitz could just tell that Olivia's beauty extended beyond being physical. Sometimes with Mellie he wasn't so sure.

They all dance without a problem for several more songs until Fitz looks back and sees that same guy who started dancing on Olivia is starting to get a little too physical. She tries to push him off a few times but he won't let go. She's finally able to get him off and Fitz can see her now yelling furiously at him. She turns back around and takes a deep breath, thinking it's over. That is until the guy roughly grabs her arm, nearly knocking her off her feet, making Fitz go into auto-pilot mode. He covers a twenty-foot distance in a matter of seconds, even with the large crowd of people, and pulls the guy away from Olivia. He hears her say, "Fitz, what the—" and before he knows what he's doing, he socks the guy square in the jaw, sending him to the ground.

A few people around them, who saw what just went down, pause briefly and then scoot a few steps away before returning to dancing. Fitz stares at the guy on the ground, who's stirring, trying to figure out where he is, and before Fitz can ask if she's okay, Olivia hops over the guy and takes off into the crowd. What the heck happened to Harrison and Abby? Maybe if they had been there, he wouldn't have had to punch out some drunken idiot. But it also made him feel better that he did it after seeing the guy grind up against her like that.

He took off in the direction she went, not even getting a glimpse of her, and actually getting lost in the crowd himself. He ends up having to shove a few people out of the way, but he doesn't care. He has to make sure that she's okay. Once he gets completely lost, he keeps moving in the same direction until he meets an iron fence and decides to follow it down. Luckily, it leads him to where he and Mellie came from—_Crap. _He completely forgot about Mellie. She's going to be more upset than pissed off, but right now Olivia is more important. He doubted that she was seriously hurt or anything but he knew that she probably needed someone there with her.

As soon as he got out to the front of the house, where there were still a lot of people but a lot more room available to actually move, he stopped for a moment and took a breather. He was sweating and his heart was racing fast from all the adrenaline pumping through him. That's when he saw Olivia standing at the edge of the driveway, looking dazed, and he took off after her.

"Hey, Olivia," he said, cautiously putting out a hand to steady her because she looked like she might drop any second. "Are you—"

"Don't touch me. Just go away," she tells him, not rudely but as if he should for his own good, like she's about to turn into a werewolf at midnight or something.

"I can't just walk away. You look like you need help."

"No, I'm fine, just—" But before she can finish her sentence, she bends over and pukes a ton into a nearby bush. He helps her onto her knees, where she sits, panting and clutching her stomach.

"Uh, gross!" Says some guy passing by them, who Fitz in return glares at until the guy looks away. Fitz sits with Olivia on the pavement by the bush for a few minutes before tentatively asking, "Why don't we go sit somewhere a little more comfortable?" She follows his gaze to a bench close by. She nods yes and he helps her up, but she pulls away from him as soon as she's back on her feet.

They both sit down, far away enough from each other so that it's not awkward but close enough so that if she were to pass out or anything, Fitz could catch her. He doesn't realize that he's staring at her until she subtly glares at him. He throws his gaze to the ground, as does she and they both just sit there for a while.

"You didn't have to do that," she mutters, startling Fitz since she hadn't spoken a word to him for the past ten minutes.

"What?"

"Hit that guy. I could've taken care of it. This isn't the first time I've been to a party like this. I can handle myself."

He shrugs. "I'm sorry, you just seemed like…you needed help," he says, choosing his words carefully so that he doesn't piss her off. "No guy should treat you that way. _Ever_."

"Yeah, well, welcome to the world we live in where things like that happen quite often. You really aren't from around here, are you?"

He chuckles. "No, I guess not. Where I'm from pretty girls are treated like princesses."

She immediately turns to him, giving him a look that says '_Oh, my gosh, did he really just say that?'_. Fitz realizes what he said but doesn't try to take it back. She looks away and just mutters, "Whatever." Making him genuinely smile, something he hasn't done that entire night since he met her.

He's starting to gain more confidence and says teasingly, "So…around here are there a lot of kind strangers like me or are most of the guys jerks like that idiot back there?"

She looks back at him and she gives him a playful smirk, deciding to cash in on his banter, "Of course, there are a lot of 'thoughtful', creepy strangers around here like you but I will most definitely say that you distinguish yourself by being the most charming of them all." He raises his eyebrows at her and now it's his turn to be shocked by what she just said. She laughs and Fitz can't remember hearing anything in his life that has sounded so angelic and lovely.

"Alright, then, I'll be sure not to change a thing." She smiles sweetly back at him, making his heat skip a beat.

"And so what do they girls around here think about said 'thoughtful, creepy strangers'?" he asks, not willing to stop their little back-and-forth.

Her face goes completely serious as she answers, "Exactly that—that they're thoughtful but creepy, so most girls stay away but some girls like me actually take a chance like I did with you."

"And was it worth it?"

"In your case, yes, because I didn't end up alone throwing up in a bush and then making a total fool of myself later—but I feel so freakin' drunk right now and I'm really tired, so is there a point to this conversation, Handsome?" she says, mocking the nickname that Mellie uses with him.

"Um, no, not really." He chuckles and that starts laughing and she joins in with him. "Well, maybe—it put you in a better mood, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it actually did." She smiles at him brightly, warming his soul, and he can't help but do the same. They stare at each other and for a second, it feels as if they're connecting on a deeper level, but that gets lost when he hears from behind him, "Olivia! Fitz!"

He turns around and sees Abby, Harrison, and Huck running towards them. He sighs disappointedly, knowing that the moment is over.

"We've been searching everywhere for you guys," Abby exclaims. "Mellie was really worried when you both took off after she saw you guys involved in an altercation with some guy."

"Yeah, he was getting a little rough with her so I stepped in," Fitz told them. "But she's okay now, right, Liv?" He turns to her and she has a lazy smile on her face as she says, "Actually, I think I might just go over and puke in that bush again if you all don't mind."

Huck mutters something about 'stupid freshmen and parties' and takes Olivia's hand, guiding her to the side of the house where she pukes again. Harrison and Abby make disgusted faces and then turn back to Fitz.

"So, you two have just been sitting out here for the past twenty minutes?" Abby asks accusingly.

"Yeah, she ran out here and I took care of her while she hurled her guts out. Is there something so wrong with that?" Fitz shoots back defensively.

"What do you mean by you 'took care of her'?" She asks, not giving up so easily but Harrison cuts in before Fitz can respond and says, "You know what? Just forget it. We're just going to take her back to her dorm and call it a night. Mellie's with Lauren and Rachel and they're not too far away so maybe you should go back and find them."

Fitz almost protests, looking back at Olivia still doubled over, because he doesn't want to leave her side and he nearly offers to take her back to her dorm himself, but he knows that he should probably back off since they're already wary of him. And they also seem to be good friends so he trusts that they'll take care of her.

"Alright," he agrees, getting up as Olivia and Huck are coming back. He sees Olivia shivering and in the next second, his leather jacket is off and he's handing it to her.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"What does it look like?" He replies and then in a whisper, says, "Remember, all pretty girls are treated like princesses where I'm from."

She rolls her eyes, smiling, and gladly takes the jacket, much to Abby's surprise.

"Okay, Liv, let's get you to your bed. Hope you're ready for your first hangover 'cause it's not going to be pleasant," Harrison says, whipping out his keys.

"Bye, Fitz!" Olivia yells, as they start walking towards the street. "I'll be sure to return this to you and if I can't, I'll just give it to Mellie!"

"That's fine," he hollers back. "Bye, Olivia."

"Bye, Fitz!" she yells again and then disappears with Abby and Harrison down the street.

**Hope you liked this chapter. I've already started on 3 and will try to get it up on here ASAP. But just to keep your minds entertained until then—how do you think Olivia is going to react when she wakes up the next morning and remembers everything that took place between her and Fitz? How's she going to properly ignore him now? Give me your thoughts in thee comments. Thanks!**


	3. Resistance

**Thank you all again for all the encouraging and constructive reviews and for giving this story a try. I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. This has taken longer than usually because right now I'm recovering from having my wisdom teeth taken out—my mouth is so sore. MyPenCries—I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your mom and I relate to you because something similar happened to me and it's been tough, but it's always good to look on the bright side of things. **

**As I was writing this, since this chapter is going to be pretty much Olitz filled, the song that kept popping into my head was "Your Body Is A Wonderland" by John Mayer and even though the song doesn't describe their relationship quite yet, I thought it'd be a good theme song choice for this chapter. I might start picking out songs to go with the chapter just for the fun of it. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Resistance**

Huck and Fitz begin to head back into the chaos that is the heart of the party, and luckily don't have to go too far in before they find Mellie with Rachel and Lauren. Mellie is upset with him at first but says that she's just glad that he's back by her side again and tells him that she's ready to leave. She doesn't even ask about Olivia, which Fitz is kind of happy about because he didn't want to have to explain himself again and have her get all suspicious like everyone else had. Though, she did ask about where his jacket went and Fitz told her that he must've left it somewhere when he took it off because he got hot and tells her not to worry about it, which earns him a questioning look from Huck who saw him give it to Olivia, but Mellie doesn't think any more of it.

Fitz takes his time driving to the hotel and is tempted to tell Mellie to just go back to her dorm because he's genuinely tired and not in the mood for messing around, but he knows that would be pushing his luck too far, since Mellie is surprisingly choosing not to say anything about the fact that he totally abandoned his GIRLFRIEND and helped another girl—or at least he thought that she wasn't going to ask.

For five minutes, Fitz and Mellie just discuss simple stuff, like how good the food at the restaurant was or how ridiculous the party was but it had good music. Then after about a minute of silence, Mellie asks, "So, what happened after that weird altercation with Olivia and that guy? Once I saw him on the ground I totally lost sight of you. Do you know him or something?"

"Oh, no, I don't know him but—I don't know, I just saw him getting really rough with her and Abby and Harrison had disappeared so she was all alone and I didn't want something bad to happen, so I stepped in," Fitz says, trying to tell the truth as much as possible, but he twists the story a little as he continues, "but then Olivia ran off and I got lost in the crowd. I wandered around a little looking for you but I couldn't so I found my way back to the front of the house where both Abby and Harrison were waiting with Olivia and Huck. She seemed okay but Harrison and Abby decided to take her home and then I came for you. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"No, it's alright, I just wanted to know what happened," she says, and then sighs. "I keep telling Olivia to be careful but it's almost as if she wants to get in trouble and bring attention to herself at these parties. She's a good kid, though."

Fitz makes a face to himself at the fact that she just called Olivia a 'kid' even though Mellie's only a year older than her.

"Not as many guys would've done what you did. She should be grateful that you were there," she says, taking his hand in her own on the center console. Fitz really hated lying, especially to Mellie, because even though she seemed somewhat superficial at times, when she tried hard enough she could read him like a book. But he guessed the lie was filled with enough truth for her to believe it.

He didn't want to lie but he didn't need Mellie flipping out over nothing. Sure, he spent ten minutes looking for Olivia and then another ten just sitting and talking with her but he knew that if he told Mellie exactly that, she would get suspicious of him and Olivia and he didn't want to put Liv in that situation. He was justified in lying since he was trying to protect someone else, wasn't he?

He leads Mellie up to his room and as soon as he closes the door, she latches onto his neck and starts kissing him furiously, trying to stick her tongue down his throat. He doesn't even have enough time to turn on the light and luckily backs up onto the bed without tripping over anything.

"Whoa, just hold on, Mel—" Fitz tries to say, as she puts her mouth to his again, half way to pulling off his shirt completely. He grabs her hands and puts them at her side, carefully sliding out from under her.

"What? What's wrong?" Mellie asks, finally settling down. He looks at her face in the moonlight and sees that she's more annoyed then upset but that doesn't stop him from telling her kindly, "How about we do this tomorrow night? I know it's not all that late and we have a lot of time but I'm just really tired from the flight and everything that happened tonight."

She stares at him for a few seconds, completely surprised, and then looks down in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah, that's fine, I guess…Sorry for getting so carried away, I've just missed you a lot."

"I know, but let's go to bed, that way we can get an earlier start on the day tomorrow. I'm sure you have a lot to show me around town," he says, slipping off his shoes and then heading to his suitcase to search for a pair of jersey shorts he packed for sleeping.

"I actually _do_ have a lot to show you. In the morning, we can just hang around here alone and catch up more…" Fitz makes a face at this "and then maybe sometime in the afternoon we can go out and hit the shops and maybe the beach. The girls wanted to get to know you a little better. Sometimes I feel like they want to try and steal you away from me," she jokes.

Fitz suddenly becomes very alert at this and turns his head to face Mellie in the darkness. "We're going to hang out with your friends?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want to—"

"No, that's sounds great," Fitz tells her, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. He was afraid that he wasn't going to get to see Olivia again before he left or that he'd only get to see her once he was saying goodbye to everyone, but if they're all hanging out tomorrow for the afternoon, he might get a little time alone with her. Of course he'll have to be careful not to get too close and validate anyone's suspicions, especially after he sensed some distrust from Abby earlier.

He lies on the bed as Mellie changes in the bathroom. He doesn't remember her bringing a change of clothes with her and wonders what she's going to wear. He hopes that she doesn't just decide to go with naked. He gets his answer when she comes out, wearing one of his sweatshirts that he didn't even see her take out of his suitcase and her underwear. He tried not to cringe, not because Mellie didn't look good but now the only person he wanted to see like that was Olivia. Just thinking of her in that fashion was starting to turn him on and he had to quickly push the image away from his thoughts.

Mellie crashes into him on the bed, putting her arms around his chest and pulling him closer, but he doesn't respond to her body at all and just continues to lay stiff as a statue.

"Wow, Fitz, you're so tense. Loosen up a bit," she says, laying her head on his chest and taking his arms, putting them around her. It takes everything in him not to push her away. For a few seconds he closes his eyes and pictures it's Olivia in his arms instead. He imagines the wonderful scent of her hair as he buries his nose in it, how perfect she fits in his arms, how his whole body tingles with excitement as she kisses a line down his neck to his chest…and then it stops.

"That better?" Mellie asks, feeling his body relax. Fitz gives her a sigh in return but she doesn't hear the disappointment in it. Mellie starts to strike up a conversation but Fitz is too tired to even acknowledge that she's talking, so he pretends to be asleep and once Mellie notices that he's 'out', she falls quiet too. He eventually tries to sleep too, but the second he closes his eyes, Olivia pops into his head. He wants to enjoy it but he can't help feeling guilty. _Why do you keep letting this girl get the best of you, Fitz? You can't have her, not without having a nightmare on your hands, so just let it go_, a part of him says. But the hopeful part in him refuses to let it go. He can't. There's a reason he met her, a reason she came into his life—sure the timing could've been a bit sooner, but that didn't mean all was lost. He could still have her if he did this properly. She was going to be his and nothing was going to stand in his way. _Sorry, Mellie._

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia groans as a bright ray of sunlight hits her face and flips over onto her stomach, sending a huge wave of sharp pain to her brain. "Ahh!" she cries out, clutching her forehead and carefully sitting up.

"Awake now, are we?" Olivia opens her eyes and can see Abby sitting on her bed with her legs crisscrossed and her arms crossed over her chest, looking at her friend, expectantly. "You had one hell of a night."

"Wha—?" Olivia starts but as if she were hit by a lightning bolt, all the thoughts of the night before come rushing back to her. Her fight with Jake, meeting Fitz, downing all that booze, the dancing, Fitz beating down some guy, her and Fitz talking and laughing… "Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap," she gasps, pulling the covers off and standing up too quickly, sending another wave of pain to her now throbbing head. She sits back down and looks at Abby, horrified.

"Talk to me, Liv."

"I—I don't even." Olivia clears her throat. "I don't even know where to begin."

Abby nods calmly. "Okay, well, how about we start with what the heck you were doing with Fitzgerald Grant _alone_ for twenty minutes at that party? Or do you not remember?"

"Abby, I—"

"Because if you don't I'd be glad to fill you in on as much as I saw. Like when Harrison, Huck, and I were frantically looking all over that house, calling and texting your phone, fearing the worst, and then coming out to find you making googly eyes and smiling all lovey-dovey at Fitz, _Mellie's_ boyfriend. Oh, and you know what? So was he."

"Abby, I was drunk. I got into trouble with some guy, Fitz helped me out of it, and stayed with me while I puked my guts out."

"Except you _weren't_ puking your guts out. You two were talking and looking at each other like long-lost friends but it didn't look so friendly from my POV or probably anyone else's."

"What are you trying to imply?" Olivia asks, starting to get mad.

"Really, Olivia? You are at Berkeley right now, one of the country's toughest colleges to get into, so I know that you are not as dense as you are behaving right now." Olivia glares at her but that doesn't stop Abby from continuing, "If I have to spell it for you, then fine, I will. I think you have a thing for Fitz, and Mr. Handsome might just feel the same way, too. Except, I think he's playing you, probably like he's done with tons of other girls before because I _knew_ that there was no way in hell a guy that good-looking could remain monogamous, even with somebody as attractive as Mellie. And the only reason I'm not totally grilling you for getting a little too comfortable with Fitz is because I know that you are not the kind of person to steal somebody else's boyfriend away, so—I'm just going to tell you straight-up, as your best friend and someone who cares about you very much that I suggest you stay as far away from him as possible, because right now he sees you as a challenge that he thinks he can win, and _if_ he does, he will do away with you when he's done and leave you in the dust and the last thing I want to see is you getting hurt," Abby finishes, staring at her friend with empathetic eyes.

Olivia takes a deep breath, rendered speechless. She thinks about how sweet and gentle and kind and sincere Fitz was towards her the night before and finds it hard to believe that he's just playing her. He not only took care of a troublesome guy for her but he also sat with her while she _very_ unattractively hurled into a bush, not even seeming the least bit disgusted but instead looked extremely worried. He also sat with her on bench for ten minutes and made her laugh and feel happier than she has in a very long time—he didn't have to do any of that. But what if Abby was right? Abby was speaking from experience after all. She had dated a college guy in their last year of high school and thought they were serious, only to find out that he had a girlfriend for almost two years and had been using Abby as a side-chick. Olivia remembered how heartbroken she was, all the sleepovers and sleepless nights they endured together and Olivia was so angry with him that she did a little digging about him and sabotaged a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity, which completely crushed him and kept him from obtaining any respectable job ever again. Last time she checked, he was working as a telemarketer for Wal-Mart.

But after seeing what that experience did to Abby, Olivia would hate to have to go through anything even similar. Who was she kidding? Of course he was playing her. He was too handsome and good enough for her, and she wasn't going to end up being named as the whore who broke him and Mellie up. Let it be somebody else.

Once she comes to this conclusion, she solemnly nods her head, agreeing. "I know. I'll stay away from him. I won't talk to him ever again if I don't have to. You're right. Especially after seeing what you went through with Paul—I don't need that in my life right now. I'd sooner run back to Jake then let that happen," she admits.

Abby cracks her a crooked smile. "You mean 'Joke'?"

They both start laughing and then Olivia corrects herself, "Okay, well maybe not, but I promise I'll stay away."

Abby nods satisfactorily. "Good. Now, get up," she says, getting off her bed herself and heading to the door, still dressed in pajamas.

"Where are we going?" Olivia asks, gingerly standing up, not sure if she can withstand another wave of pain rushing to her head.

"We're going to get milkshakes."

"Milkshakes? Why?"

"Because they help with headaches and hangovers—at least they help me."

"You've been hung over before?"

Abby rolls her eyes. "My sister's bachelorette party when I was sixteen. Don't even remind me."

"You didn't wait for me," Olivia says, accusingly.

"Trust me, Liv, you didn't miss anything," she tells her, shutting their dorm door as they step out into the hallway, making Liv cringe as sharp pain shoots through her brain. "See? Now, come on."

"What time is it?" Olivia asks, attempting to fix her hair up a little.

Abby checks her smartphone. "Mmm…almost 9:30." It shows that she has a text message from Mellie, so she checks it.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz wakes up from the best dream of his life to sun shining on his face. He flips over onto his other side, finding that Mellie isn't there. He reaches to ground, grabbing his jeans off the floor and taking out his phone to check the time. 9:30.

He thinks that Mellie left the hotel after seeing no sign of her being there, which would be odd since they came in his car, but as he starts to wake up a little more, he hears her voice through the walls, coming from outside the room.

Not a moment later, she bursts back into the room, looking a bit flustered. She's still has his sweatshirt on but is now wearing the skirt she had on yesterday and her heels, which all don't go very well together.

"Is everything okay?" He asks, as she closes the door and tosses her phone onto the kitchen counter.

She nods her head, distractedly. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just my father calling to remind me about that big dinner taking place in a few weeks. He wants me to make sure that I've cleared my weekend for it. Are you going, too?"

Fitz shrugs. "If you are, my dad will probably force me to go, so, yeah, probably," he replies groggily, not even trying to hide the discontent in his face. But as usual, Mellie disregards it.

"Great. You can be my date then. Alright, so I thought that we could stay in here until the afternoon but to be honest, I don't think that I can be cooped up in for much longer. So, how about you hop in the shower and get ready and then drive me back to the university so that I can freshen up, too? Then maybe we can head out and have a nice breakfast at this place with the most _amazing_ pastries. Then like around three, we can go meet with my friends around some shops and if the weather's not too bad, we can go down to swim at the beach. I already texted them. Does that sound like a plan?"

Fitz tries his best to smile and nods, obediently. "Sure." She smiles back and he gets out of bed and heads into the bathroom with a change of clothes, ready to shower. Just five and a half more hours and then he'd get to see Olivia again. He just had to hold on until then.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz and Mellie spent the first part of the day just taking it slow, starting out at the restaurant Mellie wanted to go to, as planned, and then driving around town, sightseeing. She suggested they go see San Francisco the next day, which he was fine with since, in all his twenty-five years of living on-and-off in California, he'd never been to the great city.

The afternoon came around quicker than he expected and before he knew it, he and Mellie were parked outside some shop that sold knickknacks, waiting for everyone to show up. Fitz was feeling nervous at seeing Olivia again. He kept wiping his sweaty hands on his board shorts and tried looking outside to keep his mind occupied but he knew it would just agitate him even more, as he could easily see if one of Mellie's friends' cars were driving up. He decided to look towards the sea, focusing on the gentle, slow-moving waves, which were colored a bright orange from the afternoon sun.

"They're here," he hears Mellie says, minutes after he starts to calm down. She gets out of the car but he waits because they're parallel-parked on the side of the road and too many cars are passing by at the moment. He looks through the windshield and sees Quinn, Rachel, Lauren, Harrison, and Huck approaching Mellie from way upfront. This time instead of party clothes, they're all in suitable attire for the beach.

His question of where Olivia is gets answered when he sees her and Abby bringing up the rear, about fifteen feet behind the first group. They're laughing about something and Fitz takes a moment to take in the gorgeous smile he wishes he could wake up to see every day. That is, until he hears Mellie ask through the glass, "Fitz, are you coming or what?"

He remembers where he is and when it's safe, he climbs out of the car and goes to be with everyone else on the sidewalk. Fitz pauses and takes Olivia in. Her hair is pinned up in a messy bun and she's wearing a tank top that shows the halter top of her bikini suit, along with some shorts and flip flops. She looks extremely tired, but nevertheless, stunning as ever. He can't wait to see her in a bikini.

She and Abby catch up with the group but Olivia stops laughing the second she sees Fitz. She continues to stare at him and for a second, he suspects that she's checking him out. She gives him an angry look, shaking her head and then looking away. He earns a similar expression from Abby.

The rest of the group announces that they want to walk around and maybe go into a few shops. Abby and Olivia decide to trail behind the group, much to Fitz's disappointment, since he's up in the front with Mellie. Rachel, Lauren, and Quinn decide they want to go look at a boutique and the guys reluctantly agree. Fitz holds the door open for everyone, like a gentleman. Olivia and Abby are the last to enter and Fitz's heart rate speeds up as Olivia approaches him. He hopes to make eye contact but she keeps her gaze on the store in front of her, almost completely ignoring him, except for saying 'thank you' then going back into her conversation with Abby.

Maybe she was still embarrassed about the night before. He doubted she remembered everything but he figured that she remembered enough to feel self-conscious and now start ignoring him. But that wasn't going to fly with him. He would be leaving the next day and flying all the way back to the other side of the country, unsure of when he'd see her again. He had to make some sort of lasting impression besides being the guy that sat with her as she puked at some party. He feels a small piece of paper in the pocket of his hoodie and has an idea.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

So far Olivia had been doing a pretty good job of steering clear of Fitz. She honestly thought about skipping out on everyone and saying that her hangover was so bad that she couldn't go out with them. But Abby's milkshake remedy worked wonders and she was actually feeling a lot better. Besides, she didn't want to let Fitz rule over her more than he already had. Even though she had said she was done with him and she meant it, he had been in her thoughts all day, even as they walked the streets, she couldn't refrain from checking him out when no one was watching.

She knew that his eyes were also on her whenever possible. Like when he opened the door for everyone one at every single store they went into and tried relentlessly to make eye contact with her when she got close. And especially when the gang stopped because the other girls needed to use the bathroom before they went to the beach. Olivia decided to hang back with the guys, which earned her a questioning glance from Abby, but she rather stay out there with Fitz then wait in a stinky, public restroom for _five_ girls to do their business. Besides, she had Harrison and Huck with her too.

They ended up waiting for fifteen minutes, which is what she expected, but the guys were annoyed. She talked a little with Huck and Harrison, being careful to not even look in Fitz direction. She even played a few games on her phone until the girls came out and then they headed down to the beach.

As soon as they hit the sand, the girls, except for Olivia, stripped down to their bathing suits, Lauren being the only one wearing a one-piece since she was too self-conscious to go with a bikini, even though she had the body for it, something that made Olivia laugh at internally.

Olivia hadn't really been planning on swimming, since she just pressed her hair the night before and didn't want to take the chance of it getting wet, but she just put on the suit to appease Abby. She hung around the group by the water for a while, occasionally sticking her toes in and running away from the waves with Quinn, pretending to enjoy herself. After walking around for nearly three hours, Olivia was already seriously tired and just wanted to sit down and read the book she brought with her for this exact moment. She can also feel _him_ still watching her.

As if Huck read her mind, he comes up to her and asks, "Do you wanna sit down over there? Swimming isn't really my thing."

She smiles at him and agrees. They sit about thirty feet away from the shore, watching everyone make a fool themselves. Fitz is knee-deep in the water, standing around sort of awkwardly until Rachel comes up to him, tells him something, and in the next second, he hoists her up on his shoulders. Harrison does the same with Lauren, who's screaming at him to put her down, because he kind of just grabbed her up, but he doesn't let go. The four start playing a variation of chicken, with Quinn and Mellie standing by laughing, though Mellie seems a bit bothered that Fitz doesn't have her up on his shoulders. Olivia watches as Rachel knocks Lauren down, cheering, until Fitz purposely falls into the water, while still holding Rachel to make sure she falls harmlessly. Once they're all out of the water, Rachel playfully swats Fitz, earning a prize-winning smile from him, making Olivia a tinge bit jealous.

She looks away, pulling out a small book, ready to get some reading done. She finds it hard to concentrate at first but eventually gets wrapped up in the book's topic—that is until she hears a familiar voice from above, say, "Hey, what're you reading?"

She squints up to see Fitz looking down at her, trying to hide a smirk. "A book," she answers bluntly.

"What kind of book?" he asks, taking a seat right next to her. She notices Huck, on her left, laying on his back, nearly passed out.

"It's for one of my classes. I have to write a paper on it. It's due in a few weeks," she answers, cupping a strand of hair behind her ear, with Fitz following the movement like it's the most interesting thing in the world. She shakes her head and returns to the book, as if he's going to leave her alone.

"Someone's a bit of a nerd," he says, with a smug, teeth-filled smile.

She looks up at him, trying not to take notice of how white his teeth are and asks, matter-of-factly, "Did you just call me a nerd?"

"Yeah," he answers, then whispers in a voice that sends shivers down her spine, "_are you going to do anything about it_?"

She fidgets, feeling her cheeks redden. She looks away from him and back down to the book, then replies, nonchalantly, "No, I'm not. I guess I actually am a bit of a nerd."

He nods. "That's great, because where I'm from nerds are held up in fairly high regard, especially the pretty ones…" He says, quoting a bit from their conversation last night.

She could've almost sworn she heard him finish out the sentence with "like you" but she wasn't sure. She rolls her eyes and mutters, "Yeah, well, that really is great."

He looks down at the sand and remains quiet for a few minutes. Olivia takes this as a cue to focus back on her book. She reads about a page before Fitz says, "By the way, I'm sorry for any misunderstandings about last night. I was seriously just trying to help because I thought you needed it. I really enjoyed hanging out with you."

Olivia starts to get irritated that he keeps interrupting her and playing these stupid minds games with her and retorts, "Do you tell every girl you 'help out' that? And if that doesn't work, do you try out these cheesy-ass lines as a sorry excuse for flirting so that you can work your player magic on them? Because it's not working on me, so why don't you quit it and go back to your _girlfriend_?"

She sees the saddest look in his stormy blue eyes and immediately regrets what she said. She puts the stupid book down and looks back up at him, but his expression is apathetic, with a hint of anger and hurt as he starts to get up, grumbling, "Maybe I will."

Before she knows it, she's begging him, "Wait, I didn't mean that. I was just—please don't go." He turns back, looking into her eyes, his slightly full of hope. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean that. Sit back down, please?" She can't believe the words coming out of her mouth but doesn't take them back, as he nods, and sits back where he was a minute ago.

"What I said was pretty low—and your lines aren't cheesy, I like them. They're actually kind of funny. I was just starting to get annoyed because I was reading and you kept talking but it's just a stupid book, you see?" She throws the book onto her bag like it's nothing and continues rambling, "I can read it any time. I don't even know why I brought this one with me. Usually when I come to the beach to hang out, I bring a fiction novel with me, science fiction, normally. I've loved science fiction ever since I was a kid when my dad took me to NASA's headquarters and I got to see some interesting things. I actually wanted to be an astronaut at one point but my parents thought I'd do better as a lawyer, so here I am! I—"

"Liv?" he says, finally causing her to cease. "You're rambling and you don't strike me as the type of person who rambles a lot." He was right. She didn't ramble or babble often, or at all, really, not unless she was nervous, which didn't happen often either. But here was this sexy, young man, giving her one heartbreaking look and getting her to beg him for forgiveness and talk him off until she's blue in the face.

"Yeah, I'm not," she says breathlessly. He smiles friendly at her and touches her hand in the sand. Her breath hitches at the contact but she doesn't move. He asks her more about her love for science fiction and she carefully and slowly tells him about how it all started. They talk a little more about their favorite trivial things, like music and movies and celebrities. They share a few laughs and find out that they have a whole lot in common. She finds herself wanting to spend the rest of the evening talking with him but sees that their time is over when the rest of the girls and Harrison start coming in from the water. Olivia looks up at the sky, which is turning a dark shade of blue as the sun is almost set under the horizon.

She shakes Huck awake and they all get going. After those who swam rinse the salt water off their bodies in the beach showers, they get dressed and all head back towards the shops and decide to catch dinner at a café directly across from the beach.

Abby refuses to talk to her and glares at her after seeing how comfortable she got with Fitz again. Once they're taken to their table, Olivia sits as far away from Fitz as possible but that doesn't stop him from looking at her or flashing her charming smiles. As much as she tries not to join in, her and Fitz get into a system of giving each other looks whenever someone says something that sticks out to them. It's as if they have their own silent language. Every time he flashes her one of his gorgeous smiles, she can't help but look down and blush, as her heart flutters in her chest. After dinner, they walk back to their cars, and Fitz finds a way to hang back with Olivia.

"Well today was fun, huh?" he asks, walking in step with her.

She nods, smiling up at him. "Yeah, thank God I wasn't drunk off my ass and could actually enjoy it."

He chuckles. "I'm glad I could enjoy it with you this time," he agrees. All of a sudden he gets really serious and asks, "Will I see you again before I leave?"

"Um, I don't know, but I hope so. If I'm not too busy being a nerd, I might just come by and say goodbye," she teases, making him grin again.

"You're shivering." He notices.

"Yeah, just a little but it's not that cold."

"But you're shivering," he points out again and in almost no time, his hoodie is unzipped and around her shoulders before she can protest. "Fitz…"

"Take it. We still have another ten minutes to walk back to the cars."

"I still haven't even given you back the one from last night.

"Keep it. There's plenty more where that came from, especially since someone can't remember to bring a jacket along."

She shakes her head but keeps it, saying, "I'm giving this back to you as soon as we get there."

"Please Liv, just keep them both. I want you to have a piece of me to keep with you until we see each other again." She barely nods but continues to walk, slipping the hoodie on and zipping herself up. She sees Fitz chuckle at her, probably because the jacket is nearly four times too big for her, almost reaching her knees.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Everyone says goodnight to each other and then makes their way towards the cars they came in. Fitz watches Olivia as she, Abby, Harrison, and Lauren pile into one car and drive off towards the university. Mellie nudges him so that they can go and they take off for the hotel.

This time Mellie brought her own change of clothes for the night and the next day, so she quickly takes a shower and then changes into her nightwear. Fitz showers after her and changes into something similar to the night before. The fact that Fitz doesn't have his hoodie doesn't go unnoticed by Mellie and she asks him what happened to it. Fitz nonchalantly tells her that he left it back in the car and she decides to let it go.

They climb into bed together and watch an old movie on TV. Fitz is starting to drift off, hoping to have a good night's sleep after getting his fair share of time with Olivia, but then he feels Mellie running her fingers down his chest to his stomach, getting dangerously low to his crotch. He catches her hand before it can go any further and says tiredly, "Mel, let's not do this right now. I'm extremely tired."

Mellie doesn't try to hide the fact that she's upset and annoyed, saying, "Fitz, that's what you said last night. You know I'm not going to be with you tomorrow night so can you please not give that excuse right now. We haven't done anything since I last saw you in the summer."

"I know, but I'm not in the zone for it right now, okay? I just want to go to bed," he tells her, flipping around so that he's not facing her.

Mellie remains quiet for several seconds, apparently shocked. "Fine," she mutters. "You know, if I'm suddenly not good enough for you to have sex with me you can just say that instead of using some lame-ass excuse about being tired."

"Mellie—"

"No, it's fine, let's go to bed like you suggested. It's late, anyway."

Fitz starts to feel guilty and flips back around to face her. "That's not what this is about, you _know_ that that's not what this is about—"

"Fitz, I'm tired, too, okay? Let's just go to bed," she says mockingly, facing away from him.

He decides to give up and maybe try apologizing in the morning. She's right. Him saying he's tired is a lame-ass excuse but if he were to tell her the truth, that he can no longer have sex with her without feeling like he's betraying Olivia in some capacity, it would just hurt her even more. This wasn't going to be easy.

**Woo! What a long chapter. I hope you enjoyed a little Olitz angst and romance. Next chapter, not only will you find out why Fitz was so insistent on giving her a second jacket, but you will ALSO find out more about Olivia's family and background, since these next two chapters will be mostly from her POV. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Found You Again

**Thanks again for reading this fun story and thanks for all the supportive and intuitive comments. I love how this story is getting some of you thinking. The theme song of this chapter for me is "Let's Never Stop Falling In Love" by Pink Martini. I think it goes really well with the 'fancy' part of this chapter—you'll see. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Found You Again**

It had been four weeks since Fitz left to return to Massachusetts. Four weeks since Olivia had spoken to or seen him but he never stopped haunting her dreams at night or infiltrating her thoughts during the day. Her heart would speed up every time someone uttered his name and she couldn't help but wonder whether or not he was thinking of her as much as she was of him.

She had spent the past three weekends cooped in her room, kept busy by seemingly endless schoolwork, but this third weekend would be different whether she liked it or not. Her father had phoned her only two days ago, telling her that the annual gathering, featuring the biggest businessmen, lawyers, and politicians in the country, that he's forced her to go to for the past four years was taking place this upcoming weekend. Her father told her that she might as well just spend the entire weekend with him, making this the first time she's seen him since she graduated from high school.

She packs a suitcase with some of her homework and enough clothes for two days and makes the hour and a half drive to Santa Cruz. Her father told her to be there no later than three in the afternoon. Olivia waits for the large iron gate separating her from a pebble stone driveway that encircles a magnificent water fountain in front of the house she used to call home that can't really be called a 'house' since it has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a tennis court, and a basketball court, along with nine bedrooms, even though only five people currently live there, three of them being part of the cleaning and cooking staff.

Olivia has always been careful to leave out that she comes from a rich family whenever meeting new people. She hated the stigma that came with it since most people would automatically assume that she was some entitled, selfish rich kid that was only given opportunities by mommy and daddy, especially since she was attending Berkeley. Now that she thought about it, the only people who knew about where she came from were Abby and Harrison, who she'd known since middle school, and even then it took her a while to tell them, much less invite them over. But there was another part of her that kept the knowledge of her riches a secret because they never brought her happiness, but only intense memories of sadness and misery.

Olivia pulls up to the front portico, where a young man she's never seen before is dressed slickly in all black, waiting for her expectantly. She gets out and he immediately walks up to her, asking, "Ma'am, would you like help with your things?"

She stares back at him, thinking about how foreign this all feels to her now, and then shakes her head at him. "No, thanks. I just have one suitcase—I think I can manage that," Olivia answers firmly but kindly.

He looks at her as if he wants to ask again but decides to let it go, seeing as she's not going to budge. Olivia opens the trunk of her car and pulls out her small suitcase, dragging it along the pavement.

"Will this be it from your car or will you have to return for more items?" he asks politely.

Olivia turns around and faces him. "Nope that'll be it. Thanks…?"

"Isaac," the young man nervously answers, holding out his hand for her to give him her car keys, which she does. He carefully settles himself in the car and drives away, taking it to the parking garage.

Olivia walks through the already wide open door to the mansion and takes the house in like she's seeing it for the first time, although it looks exactly the way it did when she left. The foyer is cleaned to the tee and the double staircases leading to the second floor are scrubbed spotless. The hard wooden floors have been recently polished and the walls look newly painted, free of any blemish. She hears soft piano coming from the living room and heads in there, leaving her suitcase at the front door.

She walks in and sees her 14 year-old brother, Nathan, gracefully attempting to play a piece on the old grand piano that's been in the same spot for years. She smiles, walking up behind him, saying, "I didn't know you picked up piano again?"

She reaches him and tussles his hair playfully like she used to do when they were younger. He shakes his head and makes a face, pretending he doesn't love it and answers, "I picked it up over the summer while you were gone."

She stands still with a shocked expression on her face when he speaks because his voice is a full octave lower than it was when they last talked. She looks even closer at him and sees a hint of a mustache growing on his upper lip. He's actually turning out to be quite handsome and she can't help but felt a bit sad as she sees her baby brother almost all grown up before her eyes. She smiles at him again. "Looks like puberty visited someone while I was gone. How have you been, kiddo?" she asks, using the nickname that she gave to him a few years ago.

He shrugs coyly. "Alright, I guess." Not a moment later, Eli Pope strides into the room in all his pride and grandiosity, and gives his daughter the best smile he can conjure up, greeting, "Olivia!" He opens up his arms for her, making his way towards her.

She slaps on an equally fake smile, and greets back with even less enthusiasm, "Dad," allowing him to embrace her stiff body as she awkwardly hugs him back with one arm. She takes a deep breath and literally shivers, as if she can shake the memory of making such close contact with him. They both knew that it's all for show for Nathan because even if they hadn't seen each other for five years, neither of them would've even _thought_ about anything nearly as affectionate as a hug, a simple 'hello' would've been just fine. But Olivia didn't even understand why they were acting in front of Nathan, since she knew that he knew more than anyone that their loving father-daughter relationship was fake as hell.

He continues to give her his trademark strictly business smile and says, "Right on time. So, how are you? I would expect that you've been doing exceptionally in your studies." His face gets slightly more serious as he checks for the answer in her face.

"I'm good, and of course I've been doing great in school," she responds simply, while knowing in the back of her mind that she could've easily lied to him, something she's learned to do over the years as a means of survival in his household.

"Good. Good," he says nodding his head satisfactorily. "Nathan, would you step out so that I can talk to your sister briefly in private?"

Nathan nods, acting even more obsequious than Isaac. "Yes, dad." And with that, he's shuffling out of the room.

Eli faux smiles at Olivia again, gesturing towards the leather couches that look like they've never been sat on at all before. They both take a seat opposite from each other and Eli's expression is again slightly more serious. "So let's get right down to business and why you're here in the first place," he says, cutting the affectionate-father crap. "As you already know, the city's annual dinner gathering is tomorrow and you know why I want you there…"

"Because some of the country's best and most successful lawyers will be in attendance and it will be a good experience for me to be in that atmosphere," Olivia says, answering like it's a quiz question, one she's had to recite for the past four years.

"Right. And you already know how this works so there's no need to go over all the simple rules. However, what _has_ changed is your date for this evening."

"What do you mean?" She asks, genuinely confused, because the first two years she went, her older brother, Isaiah, who's now married, accompanied her, and in the following two years, her father paired her up with Nathan as her date. He had always wanted to make sure that she had a suitable date because even though the evening was taking place in a professional setting, not every males' mindset at the gathering was strictly professional, especially when it came to young ladies.

"You are familiar with Harold Davis of Davis & Lee—the law firm?" He asks, hardly waiting for an answer, but Olivia nods truthfully, nevertheless. "He has a son around your age, currently attending Harvard as a law student—Edison Davis is his name, and he will be attending the gala with you tomorrow as your date." Before Olivia can say anything, Eli continues with more urgent news, "The Davis family will be arriving here at 4pm today, which gives you approximately…" he checks his watch for effect "fifty minutes to get dressed in something a little more respectable for the meeting."

Olivia looks down at what she's wearing, which is a Berkeley sweatshirt with jeans and some old sneakers. It doesn't look too bad but she expects the Davises to look a little more formal, which is probably why her father wants her to match up with them.

"I picked out suitable attire for you earlier. Miriam should have it laid out on your bed upstairs," he tells her, referring to the female maid, who also served as somewhat of a nanny to Olivia and her brothers when they were younger. "I don't know if you want to shower or freshen up, but just be ready and down here in a presentable fashion by 4pm." And with that, he leaves the room, as if he's just dismissed her from class.

She wastes no time getting ready, knowing that her father would get exceedingly upset if she were even a minute late. She carries her suitcase upstairs and goes to her room where she finds a gray and black button up sweater and a respectably knee-length white skirt and pantyhose, along with some white pumps and small silver earrings. Her room is cleaned spotless like everything else in the house, looking only slightly different from the way she left it. Instantly, good and bad memories of all the times spent in this room come flooding back to her and she starts to feel overwhelmed. She takes a deep breath, closing the bedroom door and strips off her clothes, heading to the bathroom to take a quick, warm shower and hopefully calm down.

Olivia knew it was only a matter of time before her father would start to set her up with an appropriate suitor, just like he had with her brother Isaiah, but the more she stayed as far away from the toxic environment that was the majority of her childhood, the more she forgot about her father's strategic and manipulative ways. She had known that there was no way to get out of this dinner without her father cutting her off money-wise for at least the next six months, so she made sure that she showed up for the fifth year in a row—but Olivia had no way of knowing that her father would also use her mandatory appearance to ambush her with the news of her first suitor. It was laughable, really, she hadn't even been back home for five minutes and one of the first things her father tells her is that he's basically pimping her out.

She dries off after a ten-minute shower and gets dressed in the clothes laid out for her. She decides to go simple on the hair and just comb it out straight, letting it flow freely past her shoulders, topped off with a headband that matches nicely. She slips on the pumps, fastens the earrings, puts on some light make-up and then looks at the final product in her mirror. She smiles, satisfied enough and takes note of how she looks like a mixture between an English schoolgirl and something Kate Middleton-esque.

She makes her way downstairs five minutes before four, back to the living room where her brother and father are both waiting quietly. Eli is wearing the same attire from before, since he's for some reason always ready to do business, and Nathan has switched out a pair of baggy jeans for some beige slacks.

Eli stands up and smiles. "Much better. You look lovely."

Olivia keeps a somber expression as she says back, "Thank you."

They hear a little commotion from outside the room and see Miriam peep through the doorway, quietly saying, "Your guests have arrived."

Eli leads the way to the foyer where the Davises are patiently waiting, observing the house with admiration.

"What a lovely home you have, very 20th century," says a man, who Olivia can only assume is Harold Davis. His hair is dark shade of gray and he has a pair of reading glasses on. He's dressed in a brown pinstripe suit, looking like he just got back from the office. His wife, Shelby Davis, who seems to look a little older than him, looks a little churchy in a modest champagne-colored dress and blazer with an accompanying hat. She smiles at Eli, who beams at Mr. Davis's compliment, "Well, thank you, I do try."

Olivia struggles to refrain from rolling her eyes as she takes in the youngest Davis. Edison's dark chocolate skin has a slight glow that brings out his warm, inviting eyes. He towers over her, being no shorter than 6'2", and has a bright, white, charming smile but Olivia can't help but inwardly acknowledge that it doesn't hold a candle to Fitz's. Her mind starts to drift off towards him as she aches for him to be there and flash her one of his confident smirks. _Oh, how I miss you, Fitz…_

"Olivia," she hears her father's voice boom into her thoughts, sounding slightly annoyed that he has to remind her that they have company.

Olivia instantly bounces back into reality and smiles politely, going to shake each of the Davis' hands, greeting, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Edison." When she shakes Edison's hand, he doesn't allow her to pull away but instead brings her hand up to his mouth and kisses it tenderly, in front of everyone.

Olivia's breath hitches out of pure shock and she starts to feel her cheeks heat up as everyone looks to her for her reaction. "Actually, it's my pleasure," Edison says before slowly letting go of her hand.

Olivia awkwardly nods as the adults look away, apparently satisfied with the interaction. "Well, why don't we leave you two kids to get acquainted," Mr. Davis suggests, looking to Eli to back him up.

Eli turns to Olivia. "Of course. Olivia, you can show Edison around the grounds outside. Nathan, you may go do something useful with your time. The adults have some business to tend to."

Olivia nods obediently and gestures to Edison to follow her. "This way."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia decides to take him for twenty minute walk in the backyard through Olivia's favorite place out of the entire mansion—the garden. As they slowly walk the dirt pack through the garden, Olivia stares dreamily, marveling at the unique spider lilies that are in bloom in October, knowing fully well that Edison's eyes are trained on her but still refusing to make eye contact with him or acknowledge him, even after his few attempts at conversation.

Edison sighs, no longer able to hold back his frustration. "I recall us being sent out here to 'get acquainted', but if you rather stare at the flowers all day instead, I could just head back inside and leave you to it."

She turns to him, surprised at his sudden forwardness but isn't offended. She knows that whether she ignores him or not during their first encounter, they'll be seeing each other again even after the gala tomorrow, because their pairing was set into place as the first step of honoring a business deal between her father and the Davises. Olivia's not sure whether to be offended by the fact that her father didn't just tell her straight-up what he was up to or that he didn't care enough to because he knew that there was nothing she could do about it. Eli Pope was a heartless, selfish, power-hungry bastard in Olivia's opinion and a sorry excuse for a dad, so sorry that he was willing to sell his children into arranged marriages in order to fulfill some big master plan of his. Olivia knew her father had a dream to build a powerful African-American dynasty, something she had heard him discuss a countless number of times when her mother was still around. He had groomed all three of his children to be lawyers at a young age and shoot for successful careers, not that that was a necessarily bad want for your kids but they never even got to dream about what they wanted to be since the lawyer idea had been brainwashed into their minds as soon as they could make sense of it. And now that Eli's two eldest children were well on their way to becoming two of the best lawyers America has ever seen, his plans were working out quite nicely. Isaiah had been married for two years now, pushed into union with a girl from a rich family, black, of course. And now that Olivia was being paired up with Edison Davis, they would undoubtedly make a very attractive, smart, black power couple and take the country by storm—and there's not a thing Olivia can do about it.

Olivia shrugs and says simply, "You _could_ do that but like you said, we were sent out here to 'get acquainted', so I'm not sure how pleased our parents would be if they saw that you left me out here all alone. But hey, if it makes you feel better, you could run in there and tattle on me because I don't want to play with you like we're back in kindergarten," she mocks.

He remains quiet for a moment and Olivia thinks that she's pissed him off which she's kind of satisfied about, but then he looks back down at her and smiles smugly. "Tattle on you? Now why would I want to do that and ruin my chances of taking you out on a proper date?"

Olivia tries to hide the feeling of disgust, festering inside of her. She knows that Edison is just doing what he's supposed to do, which is trying to fulfill their parents' wishes and make a relationship between them possible, but she hates the fact that he's set a claim on her and she has no say on whether or not she wants to be with him—which she doesn't.

She scoffs. "You know that's not necessary, right? We're going to end up being together one way or another."

"And how can you be so sure of that? What if I don't like you?" He teases, making her want to gag because his flirting attempts are so pathetic. She can tell he's not sincere, like he's tried the same lines on every single girl he hits on—_he's just not Fitz_, she admits, reluctantly thinking of how much she misses him.

"Because that doesn't matter! If our parents want us together, it's going to happen and there's nothing we can do about it. Please don't tell me that you hadn't figured it out until now."

"Well, of course, I had but I'm just trying to make the best of it. I like you, Olivia, and I think that somewhere deep inside you're starting to like me, too." She gives him a look of utter disbelief, showing him just how off he is with his assessment.

"Okay, well, maybe you could _grow_ to like me," he tried. She nodded approvingly and they continued to walk, eventually striking up a conversation which turned into a series of heated debates about random topics. They laugh it all off and Olivia decides that Edison really isn't that bad, but she still doesn't see him as someone she could date, much less fall in love with since he's a little full of himself and was somewhat demeaning towards her at times—a trait that cost her a relationship with Jake.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia wakes up early the next day, remembering that gala is taking place later that evening. She spends the majority of the day in her room, doing homework for the week, only taking food and potty breaks. If she were back at her dorm, she probably would've quit doing her work a while ago and gone out with friends, but whenever she was at home, she was always adamant about having something to focus on to pass the time by. While she was still living at home, she remembered locking herself up in room for full days just so she didn't have to be around her dad and working on homework. Her attempt to escape him had quickly turned into a habit, one that made her good student and had eventually gotten her into Berkeley on nearly a full scholarship.

Around 5pm, Olivia takes a permanent break from her work to go shower and get ready for the gala. She goes into her closet and finds the gown her father had told her she would be wearing for the event. She found it a little odd that Eli was constantly picking out her formal wear, maybe with a little help from Miriam, but they had pretty good taste and she knew that they weren't trying to sabotage her, so she didn't make a huge stink about it.

This year's dress topped all the previous ones, though. It was a strapless, almost glimmering, gown that flowed effortlessly to the ground and shaped her body perfectly. The beige color accented her mocha skin, making her glow. She pressed her hair, straightening it a little more than the day before, letting part of it cover the side of her face. She puts on the matching stilettos, which make her a few inches taller and pearl earrings. She puts on some make-up, not as much as she would've liked because her dad said the car driving them to the dinner would be arriving at 6:30, leaving her with only five minutes when she needed about ten more.

She finds a clip purse that matches her well enough and stuffs her phone and some of her make-up inside. She sprays a little pefrume on her wrists and neck and observes herself in the mirror. Before Olivia can start critiquing, Nathan comes in the doorway, dressed in a classy, black tux, and says, with awe in his voice, "Wow, you look like a princess, and I don't mean that in a dorky sense. Edison is lucky to have you on his arm tonight."

She smiles back at him nervously. "You think so? Well, I wish I was going as your date tonight. We make a pretty attractive duo together," she teases, winking at him.

He laughs, something she hasn't him seen him do since she arrived. "Yeah, we do…" He sighs, looking serious again. "We should probably get down there, though, before Dad flips out."

She nods and takes his arm, hooking it around hers and telling him, "Lead the way."

They make the trip down the stairs, which is slightly more arduous because Olivia can't remember the last time she walked down a flight of stairs in five-inched high heels. She sees their father waiting, dressed in a similar fashion to Nathan, but looking flustered as he redundantly checks his watch over and over again.

"Ah! There you two are. The car still hasn't arrived yet, but we shouldn't be getting there too late." He looks Olivia over and an impressed expression crosses his face. "Olivia, you look splendid in that gown. I thought you might like it. I picked it out with some help from Miriam, but I thought it would look perfect on you."

She nods subtly and truthfully admits. "Thank you, and yes, I really do love it." He might suck at being a dad, but Eli Pope had the fashion factor down—that's got to count for something.

The car arrives five minutes later, they all pile in, and are cruising through town on their way to the gala in no time. Outside the party, which is taking place in a public building often used for similar events, couples, families, and other important-looking people are patiently filing inside. She tells her father and Nathan to go in without her, saying that she'll wait for Edison outside and Eli asks if she's sure but before she can respond, they see Edison and the rest of the Davises coming towards them.

"Olivia, you look…exquisite," Edison exclaims, trying to find the right words. She smiles back at him and nods appreciatively, but feels disgusted when she catches him staring down at her chest, even though most of her cleavage is covered up.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis catch up and Edison and Olivia link arms as they all head inside. The building is almost the size of a football field inside and has been broken off into two separate spaces for the night—one for dancing and mingling, which is where almost everyone is at the moment, and one for dining, which is where the speeches being given will probably take place since there is a huge stage in front of the dining area.

Olivia isn't even alone with Edison for two minutes before her father comes to get them to drag them around and show them off, mostly her, though. She's forced to introduce herself to seemingly important men and women, and hear about how they've apparently impacted the country in so many ways or about how many yachts and private jets they own. Olivia tries her best to stay engaged in the conversations around her, while also dodging disturbing looks from men both young and old, salivating over her, even with their wives standing right next to them.

She keeps looking for an escape when she sees her brother, Isaiah, and his wife, Sarah, standing alone, not too far away. She politely excuses herself and Edison and they diligently make their way over to the married couple.

"Hey, Isaiah, Sarah. Um, this is Edison Davis, my date for the evening." They both shake his hand and say 'nice to meet you' and then Sarah asks, "Would you happen to be part of the Davis family that co-owns Davis & Lee, the law firm?"

"Yes," Edison responds with a proud smile. "That would be me."

"And I would assume that you're following in your father's footsteps? You are Harold's son, right?"

"Yes and yes. I'm currently in my last year of law school," Edison says, charmingly.

"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking," Isaiah questions cautiously.

"I just turned twenty last month. You could say that I'm a little ahead of time," Edison jokes. They all laugh but Olivia can't even find it within herself to fake a laugh.

"Well, we hope to see you out in the real world soon, you too, Olivia. We'll leave you two to spend some time together—honey, let's go speak with Senator…" And with that, they're off and Olivia is alone with Edison.

They walk around, saying 'hello' to a few more people. Olivia is starting to feel tired and annoyed, mostly because her feet are hurting from the stilettos, but mostly because she's just bored and sick of having to act interested while people have conversations around her that have nothing to do with her. She asks Edison, half-jokingly, if he thinks anyone would notice if she sneaked a glass of wine but he chastises her for even thinking that.

She sighs hopelessly as they stand around, and starts looking around aimlessly in an effort to entertain herself with some people-watching—that's when she spots Fitz thirty feet away, who just so happens to be staring at her. She's unable to keep her knees from going weak at the sight of him and briefly stumbles, making Edison catch her. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she breathes, not taking her eyes off of Fitz, who's now trying to hide a grin. He looks like a million bucks, with his hair combed and gelled to perfection, except for his little Superman curl, and looking charming and sexy as ever in a black tuxedo, and what appears to be a cute little bow tie at his neck. Olivia can't help but laugh at this adorable accessory, which brings a teeth-filled smile to Fitz's face.

"Why are you laughing?" Edison asks, sounding irritated.

"It's nothing," Olivia responds, as Fitz cocks his head towards the restrooms' hallway, gesturing for her to meet him there. Olivia sees that Mellie is close to him, seemingly engaged in a heated conversation with some people nearby.

"I need to, um, go to the ladies' room. Excuse me," Olivia tells Edison absentmindedly, barely waiting for him to acknowledge before she takes off towards the hallway. She finds it empty at first but looks into a nearby waiting room and finds him standing there, smiling at her.

"Hi. What're you doing here?" they both ask at the same time. They chuckle at each other and Fitz says, staring lovingly at her, "You look absolutely beautiful, but I'm sure you've heard that enough already tonight."

She blushes. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself," she says, in a tiny voice, even though she's inwardly salivating over him.

"Thanks. So, what are you doing here? Especially with that dorky, Bill Cosby look-alike, Eddie-something," he asks, recognizing Edison from Harvard.

She raises her eyebrows, trying to keep a straight face. "It's Edison. And Bill Cosby, huh? Actually now that I think of it, I knew something looked familiar about him, I just couldn't place my finger on it." She laughs, making Fitz whole face light up in pure rapture. "My father dragged me along like he has for the past four years, so that I can get a peek at the life I'll have if I become a successful lawyer."

"You mean _when_," he corrects. "Gee, if I had known that you've been coming to this gala for the past four years, I would've showed up a long time ago. My dad's been trying to get me to come for years."

"Yeah? Why'd you decide to come this year?" She asks coolly.

"Mellie's parents forced her to come and I have to continue to look like the perfect boyfriend, so my dad and Mellie both kind of made me come," he answers.

Olivia nods understandingly. "Well, I'd love to say that it's not that bad but as you've probably already experienced, it's boring as hell." Fitz chuckles at her choice of words and says, "Yeah, it really is, but at least I won't be alone in that feeling." He looks at her longingly, refusing to be the first one to break eye contact. "You really do look amazing tonight."

Olivia turns her gaze to the ground, now that her heart is beating out of her chest and her cheeks are ten shades redder. "We should probably get back out there before our dates or anyone else for that matter come looking for us."

Fitz nods disappointedly but follows her out of the room. Before Olivia can leave the hallway, Fitz gently catches her arm and whispers, "Save a dance for me." Olivia nods and exits the hallway first and then after about thirty seconds, Fitz comes out, too.

Shortly after their interaction, the dining and speech-giving portion of the evening begins and everyone makes their way over to the banqueting area. Olivia sits at table in the front, along with Edison, her father, her two brothers, and Sarah. They spend thirty minutes eating and the next forty-five minutes is dedicated to speeches. She discreetly slips off her heels under the table, finally giving her feet room to breathe. Fifteen minutes into the speeches, she finds herself dozing off, repeatedly snapping herself back to consciousness. Fitz, who isn't too far away, raises his eyebrows at her and mockingly shakes his head at her in disapproval. She smiles back at him, stifling a yawn, and gets so desperate to stay awake that she contemplates sneaking her phone out and playing a game or checking her email for the heck of it. She's finally able to stay awake when a more interesting speech-giver, some renowned businessman, comes on the stage and cracks a few jokes throughout his discourse.

After the speeches, everyone migrates back to the mingling area that has been turned into a ballroom. The band starts to play some soft jazz and couples start dancing. Edison holds out his hand for Olivia and says charmingly, "May I have this dance?"

Olivia fake smiles, placing her hand in his and they hit the dance floor. The last thing she really wants to do is dance with Edison, but she can see her father watching her from the sidelines, seemingly uninterested, but she knows that he's checking to make sure that she behaves.

They dance away, switching partners occasionally whenever people ask. Olivia only felt uncomfortable once when she had to dance with an old lawyer, who had been drooling over her earlier, but luckily the song had been short and she was only with him for one awful minute. "That wasn't nearly as long as I hoped it would be. Will you save me a second dance?" He asks, showing her a toothy grin. Olivia struggles not to gag right in front of him and responds politely with a simple, "We'll see…"

She dances with Edison a few more songs, stealing glances at Fitz, who's doing the same and currently dancing with the CEO of some big company. He constantly looks back at her and Edison and she sees a grave look cross his face. She shakes off the notion of his jealousy and looks away. On the second to last song, Fitz is back in Mellie's arms and Olivia can see that they're dancing a little awkwardly as they start coming closer to her and Edison. By the end of the song, Fitz and Mellie are right by them as they break apart and clap for the band. Fitz turns to Olivia and Edison and asks if they can switch partners. Mellie recognizes Olivia and tells her she looks pretty, Olivia doing the same. Edison agrees to the switch and Fitz rushes over to Olivia, taking her hand in one of his own and placing the other respectably on her lower back. Olivia feels tingles throughout her body from the sensation, something she hadn't felt with Edison all night and immediately relaxes in Fitz's embrace.

She sees the old lawyer who asked her for a second dance behind Fitz, frowning at her as his wife ushers him towards the floor to dance. _Sorry, but not sorry_, Olivia thinks.

The band announces that the following piece will be their last and longest song. "Just in time," Fitz whispers in her ear, sending goosebumps down her arms.

They begin to dance, Fitz holding Olivia firmly and confidently in his arms, leading her around. She glances up at his face and sees him smiling proudly, his face lighting up more than it has the entire night. He twirls her around a few times and catches her in his arms, making her laugh out loud and gain some impressed looks from bystanders.

"You better not dip me or you'll regret it," she threatens, feigning malice.

"Now that would be a little too melodramatic but I might just do it to see your reaction, hopefully I don't regret that."

She rolls her eyes, and continues dancing while flashing courteous smiles at people watching them. "So, what happened to the girl that was dancing all dirty at that party a few weeks ago? She's so _proper_ now."

She blushes. "_She_ is not at this party tonight so don't expect anything," she whispers back.

"Well, if she does come out and things get wild, I'd love to take her home with me. That is, _if she would allow me to_," he says the last part right up against her ear, tickling a squeal out of her and making her flinch.

"Fitz, people are watching…Stop."

"They _should_ be watching. I'm dancing with the prettiest girl at the party and I want every guy in here to know it, especially your boyfriend Bill Cosby over there."

She tries to stifle a laugh but can't. Her demeanor turns serious again as she says, "You're _girlfriend_ is dancing literally five feet away from us. You can't keep telling me things like that. You need to stop."

"No, Liv, I can't stop and I _won't_ stop. I need you in my life as much as you need me in yours, I can see it in your face." She tries to pull away from him but he only holds her tighter and closer until she stops struggling. She nearly stops breathing at suddenly being so close to him. His lips are only inches away and it takes everything in her not to attack them right then and there. She can see that he's struggling with the same problem, and she pulls away slightly once he allows her to, making it easier on both of them. "See?" he says, his point having just been made.

They dance the rest of the song in silence, both of them savoring each moment they have wrapped in each other's arms. Once the song ends, they're the last of the couples to separate, reluctantly stepping apart and turning to clap for the band, who says 'goodnight' to the crowd.

They're still standing next to each other so Fitz is able to discreetly lean over a bit and whisper into Olivia's ear, "I don't want to go another month without hearing from you again, so make sure you call me."

She shakes her head in confusion, continuing to look straight ahead. "I can't call you, I don't have your number."

He smirks. "Look in the left, I believe, pocket of the second jacket I gave you. That should answer a few questions." And with that he's gone, disappearing into the crowd.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After she finds Edison, she says goodnight to him and goes to find her father, who's speaking with a few of his colleagues. Most people have left and by 9:45, after saying 'goodbye' to Isaiah and Sarah, Olivia, her father, and Nathan are on their way back home in the car that took them to the party.

They all sit silently, each of them too physically and emotionally exhausted to engage in small talk with one another, but half way through the ride, Eli decides to break the silence.

"So, Olivia, I saw you getting rather close with Fitzgerald Grant III. Do you know him?" He asks coolly, but Olivia knows that his question is anything but innocent. He's digging.

She takes a deep breath, trying not to panic and responds calmly, "Mmm, not really. I met him a few weeks ago when he came to visit his girlfriend, who I'm friends with, at Berkeley." Eli slowly nods. "He just asked for a dance so he and I switched partners." She shrugs, trying to show him how harmless Fitz is.

Her father smiles back at her. "Oh, I was just curious…"

She nods and goes back to staring out the window, but knows Eli well enough to know that he's still questioning it. And he is. He saw the way Fitz made his daughter laugh, with a genuine smile, and blush and how much at peace and alive she looked in his arms. He could see that Fitz's effects still hadn't worn off completely as he saw Olivia struggling to keep her smile hidden as she presumably thought about Fitz. Eli had to admit that they actually looked pretty good together, but there was no way in hell he would let a Grant have a shot at his daughter's hand, even if there was something there. Children and young adults often feel as if they're in love with someone but once you show them the right path and knock some sense into them, they forget about all of that foolish in-love crap that only exists for people who want to be last place in life. Those who are successful marry out of purpose and reason, not out of love. He would watch her carefully and if he suspected more, he'd make sure that something was done.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

As soon as the Popes arrive home, Olivia goes straight to her room, quickly changing out of her dress. She washes the make-up off her face, brushes her teeth, changes into some nightwear, and turns out the lights, so that her father hopefully thinks she's going to sleep.

She hasn't stopped thinking about Fitz since their dance and those thoughts were only intensified by her father asking about them. _What if he suspects something between them? Of course he suspects something or else he wouldn't have asked if she knew him_. She knows she has to lay low and try to be the obedient, charming daughter Eli wants her to be. She also can't seem too happy, she has to hold onto that sad look in her eyes that she's harbored for so many years or else Eli will know something's up. But will she be able to hide her feelings? Every time she even thinks about Fitz, she feels the coat of sadness that she's encrusted herself in throughout the years being chipped off layer by layer. No one has brought her so much happiness and hope in such a long time.

Olivia then remembers what Fitz said about having something for her in his jacket pocket—the second jacket, she remembers him saying. She finds her suitcase in the darkness, using her phone as a mini flashlight, and starts fishing through her stuff, looking for the jacket. She took both of them with her because she didn't want to take the chance of anyone discovering that they were Fitz's, especially Mellie, and even though Abby had been mad at her for a long time over the whole situation, she agreed that it was smart to keep them hidden.

She finds the gray hoodie that still has remnants of Fitz's scent and smiles as the smell fills her nose. She digs in one pocket and doesn't find anything, so she tries the other and feels a small piece of paper against her fingers. She takes it out and sees that it's folded. She opens it up and shines her phone's light against it, and sure enough, there's a ten digit number and a message that reads: 'call me…maybe'.

Olivia feels her heart flutter with excitement at the fact that she'll be able to contact him whenever she wants, and before she knows what she's doing, she punches the number into her contacts, almost labeling it as Fitz, but remembers that if anyone sees his name on her phone, she'll have major explaining to do. She thinks of their previous conversations and instead puts him under the alias 'Kind Stranger' and decides to text him, "Hi."

She immediately thinks that she's made a mistake and decides to go to bed, just now feeling guilty that she's texting her friend's boyfriend. But 5 minutes later, her phone flashes and she sees, "hi".

**Dang! These chapters just keep getting longer and longer-7,000 words! Chapter 5 should be up very soon. I know a lot of you probably hate me for bringing Edison into this but I DID make it up to you by balancing out the absurdness that is Edison with more lovey-dovey Olitz. BTW if you wanted to visually imagine what Olivia was wearing for the gala, I tried to describe the gown she wore in 208, the episode where Fitz gets shot—I'm in love with that dress. So, what do you think about Olivia's family? How about Eli? *evil laugh* How do you feel about Fitz giving Olivia his number? Please please tell me in the comments. Thanks!**


	5. Being Careful

**This is going to be another Olivia chapter—you'll find out a lot more about her history in this one. It's going to be a shorter one, and a bit of a filler but has information important enough to be made into a chapter, but I'll make it up to you with Chapter 6, which will be almost totally Olitz-filled. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: Being Careful**

Olivia and Fitz stay up throughout the night, texting each other back and forth about everything and nothing at all. She learns so much about him in the time that they talk—his family, his hopes and dreams, his beliefs and outlooks on life, his fears—she feels as if she's stayed up all night reading a book solely about him. And in return she tells him a whole lot about herself, things that she's never told anyone before. She's only known Fitz for about a month and even then she's barely seen or heard from him during that time, but she feels like she's known him for a lifetime. She feels like she can tell him anything on her mind or any secret and she knows that he'll understand. She feels such a strong connection to him and he gets her on so many levels, it's almost as if they breathe in sync. They're so wrapped up in each other that they only realize how long they've been talking when Olivia looks outside her window and sees the first shades of morning light creeping into view around 4am.

She reluctantly tells Fitz that she has to go and get at least a few hours of sleep because her father will be pissed if she sleeps past 10am, since she's supposed to be visiting. He lets her go after making her promise to call him or vice versa later, and she sleeps soundly.

Olivia wakes up around 9am, having had the best five hours of sleep in a long time. She makes her way downstairs, still in her pajamas, into the kitchen, where she smells food from earlier that morning filling the air. She sees a note, which she assumes is from Jeffrey, their butler, stuck to the oven, saying there's a plate of waffles, eggs, bacon, and a bagel waiting for her inside. She finds some mittens and takes the plate out. She sets it on the kitchen island and takes a seat on a stool, waiting for it to cool down for five minutes and then digs in. She washes the plate after she's done and heads into the living room, finishing her bagel as she checks her email. That's when she hears, "How many times, Olivia, must I remind you and your brother not to bring food in here?" She jumps at her father's voice as she flips around and sees him sitting on his armchair, pretending to read a newspaper.

"Sorry, Dad," she says, inhaling the last bit of her bagel before he can complain any further.

"You slept in pretty late. Nathan and I already had breakfast," he tells her and she can tell that he's not happy.

"I can see that. Jeffrey left me a plate of food so I already ate, too. I didn't mean to sleep so late, I just got really wrapped up in this book I'm reading for school," she lies.

"Mmm," he murmurs, not really buying into her excuse but apparently not interested enough to question her.

"So, where's Nathan?" she asks, and he responds uninterestedly, refusing to take his eyes off of the newspaper that he's really not reading, which ticks Olivia off but she doesn't lash out, seeing as how it wouldn't end well, "He's out back, playing basketball or something, when he should be doing something more useful with his time. I don't know why I ever agreed to putting in a basketball court."

Olivia rolls her eyes and leaves to find her brother before she tries to take her father in a in a headlock. She goes outside and finds Nathan on the basketball court, about to make a three-pointer. She walks up to him as the ball swooshes through the hoop and goes for the rebound, shooting from almost right next to the hoop and missing.

He smiles at her. "You still haven't got much better, have you?"

She shrugs. "Doesn't hurt to try, but you seem to only get better," she says, as he takes the ball makes another three-pointer.

"Yeah, I made varsity. Me and another freshman. I never expected to get so good, but I like basketball. It helps me think and take a breather, you know?"

She nods understandingly. "Speaking of that, how have you been doing? Living alone with Dad and all, I know that's got to be pretty tough. Are you holding up pretty well?"

He shrugs idly. "Yeah, I guess. I've just been kind of stressed out. Dad has been a lot harder on me since you left."

Olivia knows how bad their father can be. When Isaiah was still around, Olivia was just a little girl, Nathan being even littler, and their dad's discipline and pressure on them was distributed in a way so that Isaiah got the brunt of it, with Olivia receiving what was leftover, and Nathan just being instructed to be a good little boy. Their mom, Maya, used to protect them as much as she could but it came to the point where she couldn't take Eli's emotional and verbal abuse either anymore and decided to divorce him 4 years ago. She now lives with her husband, Chris, who's very nice to all of the kids, and Chris's ten year old daughter. The couple has their own baby on the way. Sometimes it feels as if her mom just took off and abandoned her and Nathan to start another family, even though they visited her during holidays and on weekends in the summer, something their dad fought for because he believed that only he could bring them up properly. She knows that her mother stuck it out for a long time, staying with such an awful man and husband for twenty-two years and trying to make the best of it for her children's sake, but once she left, things only got harder for Olivia and Nathan. Not only was the brunt of their father's harshness now placed on her but she also had to shield her brother as much as she could. She recalls nights where she would let Nathan come sleep in her room and comfort him as he cried. She remembers one time when they were supposed to be going to their mother's for Christmas break and they had been looking forward to the vacation from their father more than anything else since Thanksgiving, but on the last day before they would've left, Nathan broke his leg and Eli decided that it would've been too much of a 'hassle' to send him to Maya's, so he made him stay at the mansion for the break. Nathan had been so scared at the thought of being alone with his father for two weeks that he had begged Olivia to stay with him. She had given in, of course, hating to see her brother so scared of someone who was supposed to love and support him. She was always the one to build him up when Eli would tear him down. They became each other's rocks and best friends. Those 4 years were the hardest of her life but they made her the strong young woman she is now. Though, the day she graduated high school, she went to stay with her mom for two weeks until she, Abby, Harrison, and Jake, went travelling through Europe for the entire summer. She didn't talk with Nathan much during that time, maybe calling him once or twice every few weeks even though they used to be almost inseparable, because she was so happy to finally be free of her father. When she started talking to him again once school resumed, he seemed distant and wouldn't open up to her like he used to. She then tried to call more often but the conversations were short and terse. She can only imagine how hard things have been for him now that no one's there for him and she can't help but feel that it's her fault.

She looks at him, sadly. "I know. And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. You had to go off to college and live your life," he says to her, with a hint of spite.

They shoot in silence for about ten minutes before Olivia asks him, "Do you want to go out and do something today? I'll take you wherever you want and maybe we can get a bite to eat, too. My treat."

He thinks this over and looks like he's about to say yes, but in the next second, a fearful and worried expression crosses his face as he asks her, "Won't Dad get mad? You're supposed to be visiting both of us, he's going to get upset if—"

"Nathan, who cares? Besides, the only reason I came here to 'visit' in the first place is because Dad wanted me to show up to the gala and meet Edison. I think he could really care less about spending any quality time with me. Now go get showered and let's go," she tells him, now starting to get worried about how he's really holding up because of how scared he seemed just a second ago.

He still looks uncertain but she can see a flash of happiness and relief in his eyes. "Fine," he agrees, throwing the ball over to her, "but I want a one-on-one game first. First person to make it to ten points wins."

What was supposed to be an easy two-minute game quickly turns into a thirty-minute free shooting period, along with a round of Around the World. They finish around 10 and go take showers and by 10:30, they're ready to go.

Eli is in his office, engaged in conversation with someone over the phone so Olivia leaves a note behind in the living room, telling him that she's taking Nathan out for a few hours. Nathan decides that he wants to go and watch a popular movie that just came out, so he and Olivia go to the first showing of the day. They get out of the movie at almost one and decide to go to the mall to walk off some remaining energy. They wander around until they get hungry and Nathan picks out an old burger joint for them to sit down at.

Olivia orders a cheeseburger for herself and some chili fries that she's probably going to end up giving to Nathan. She's sipping on her Oreo milkshake as they silently wait for their food when her phone rings. She checks and sees the words 'Kind Stranger', flashing back at her. She tries to hide the wide smile that's struggling to take over her face and excuses herself from Nathan.

As soon as she's outside, she presses the phone to her ear, answering, "Hi."

"Hi. You didn't get in trouble with your dad, did you?" Her heart melts at the wonderful sound of his voice, especially his concerned tone, but she tampers down her excitement.

"No, he wasn't too upset," she waves it off.

"Good. So, what're you doing today?"

"Well, right now I'm out having lunch with my brother."

"Nathan?" He guesses.

"Yeah."

"Oh, well, I was actually about to ask you out to lunch." His tone now sounding slightly upset.

"Fitz…we can't do this. You're in a relationship. You can't be asking me out to lunch," she tells him, even though she wishes more than anything that she could say the opposite.

"It's just lunch, there's nothing romantic about having lunch. We're being friendly."

"Does your GIRLFRIEND know that you're asking me to go to lunch with you?"

"No, but she doesn't have to. I'm sure that you have plenty other guy friends with girlfriends that you've had meals with. Same here."

"Yeah, but I don't go to places _alone_ with them, usually."

"_Usually_."

"Fitz…"

"Liv…" he mocks.

She rolls her eyes, suppressing a smile. "I have to go."

"Okay. Talk to you later?"

She sighs. "Maybe."

"Alright. Bye, Olivia."

"Bye, Fitz."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

When she goes back inside, she sees Nathan digging into his food. She takes her seat across from him and pops a fry into her mouth. Nathan looks at her and in between a bite of his burger, asks nonchalantly, "Was that the guy from the gala?"

"What?" Olivia says, thinking she didn't hear him clearly.

"That guy you were dancing with last night at the banquet. Fitzgerald Grant or something." She nearly chokes on a fry at the mention of Fitz's name from her brother's mouth but quickly recomposes herself.

Before she can even think about objecting, Nathan quickly tells her, "Don't lie, Liv, because I can see right through it. Your hiding, or at least trying to hide a smile like you did when we were sitting in the car yesterday, after you two danced. You think that you cover it up pretty well but if someone knows you well enough, like I do, they can see it from a mile away in your face. You like him, don't you? And he seems to like you, too. He couldn't keep his eyes off of you during the entire event, even during the speeches."

Olivia looks back at her brother, shocked at his intuitiveness and perception, but if he really thinks that she's so awful at hiding her feelings for Fitz, she _really_ needs to be more careful. She sighs dejected. "He has a girlfriend."

He nods awkwardly and asks, "What happened with Jake?"

She shakes her head, Jake being the last person she wants to think about. "Let's just say that that chapter closed a long time ago and I want to keep it that way."

He nods again, with a sympathetic expression on his face. "Well, look, I'm just saying that you should be careful with Fitzgerald—"

"Fitz. He prefers that," she corrects him.

"Okay, Fitz, then. I'm not scared for you because he's in a relationship but I'm scared for you because Dad wants you with Edison—you know, as a BLACK couple to fulfill his full-of-crap fantasy. And I don't want you to get into any major trouble with him. So, all that I'm asking is that you be careful." He looks sincerely worried for her well-being and he has a reason to be because they both know how much of a monster their father can turn into when he doesn't get his way. But she's tired of being scared into decisions by the sociopath that she calls her dad and confidently turns to Nathan, saying, "Thanks and I will be careful, but don't you worry about me, okay? I can take care of myself."

He nods gloomily.

"Okay, now let's finish up this food so that I can pack up and get going back to campus."

Thirty minutes later, they're back home, where Eli is waiting, not very pleased because he didn't see the note Olivia left until a few minutes before they came back and claimed that neither of them answered their phones. Olivia gives him an empty apology and heads upstairs to gather her things. She says goodbye to her father and her brother, telling Nathan that he can call her whenever he wants and reminding him not to worry about her but to look out for himself.

Olivia puts her suitcase in the trunk and heads back for Berkeley by the afternoon.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I haven't started on 6 yet, but I have some great ideas that are going to make you all giddy inside with excitement and romance! Thanks for reading.**


	6. Surprise

**I'm so touched by how many of you are concerned for Nathan. Yes, it's a very sad situation but all we can do is hope that things get better for both him and Olivia. I hope you're ready for some Olitz magic to start happening because from this chapter and on, things are going to start taking off with our marvelous, adorable couple, which is why I chose "Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine as the theme song for this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6: Surprise**

It's now November and another three weeks have gone by since Olivia last saw Fitz at the gala, but they've been secretly keeping contact with one another through texting and phone calls, which makes the separation bearable for the both of them. In the first week that she got back, she was still a little nervous about contacting him, especially with Mellie being so close, but by the second week, their talks quickly became an accepted habit between the both of them and Olivia was unable to go through her days without at least chatting with him for five minutes. During this time, Fitz had been hinting at some kind of surprise he had for Liv but was remaining air tight about it, saying that she'd know what it was the next time she saw him. Olivia found herself getting exciting for whatever he had planned—that is until Mellie had invited their girl group over to her dorm for a movie night one weekend and had randomly started crying. They asked her what was wrong and after spending nearly thirty minutes trying to pry the answer out of her, she finally confided in them that she suspects Fitz is cheating on her because he's been acting so distant as of recent. Olivia feels so horribly guilty that she cuts herself off from Fitz completely, telling him that she can't partake in splitting up him and Mellie anymore than she already has, and refuses to take his calls and ignores his texts, even though it takes everything within her to not pick up the phone and pick up right from where they left off. Fitz gets so desperate that he even starts e-mailing her all of his pleas, which are slightly harder to ignore but she painfully does.

After not speaking to him for four days and enduring four sleepless nights, kept awake by him running through her thoughts nonstop, she decides to text him at three o' clock in the morning on the Monday of her fourth week without him: 'Look, Fitz, I really do like you, A LOT, but we can't do this. I'm not this kind of person and I know where things are heading so I can't take part in this anymore. Please go back and fix your relationship with Mellie because I'm done'

She expects to hear back from him later in the morning but feels a little more at peace with herself because she set the record straight. She wakes up that morning and heads to her first class of the day after getting ready, still not having heard anything from Fitz.

She decides to go into class early and takes her seat, looking through one of her folders to double check that her homework for Professor Beene is in there as she sips her cup of coffee—that is until she hears a calm, baritone voice, saying, "Hey, Olivia."

She pushes away the idea that she actually heard _him_, thinking it's just her brain messing with her because since he's been going through her mind a lot lately, but when she hears the same voice now say, "You're still ignoring me even though I flew thousands of miles across the whole country to see you."

She flips around and sees Fitz standing five feet away. She nearly spits out all of the coffee at him but holds it back at the last second, instead swallowing it too quickly and going into a coughing spasm. He walks up to her, with a small sympathetic smile on his face and gentle pats her back, taking the seat that's currently empty next to her. Once she's finished, she turns to Fitz, meaning to yell at him full volume, but all that comes out is a raspy normal volume, "What are you doing here?"

Fitz shrugs casually, grabbing her coffee off the table and taking a sip. "I go to school here."

Olivia gives him a mystified look and all of a sudden the realization hits. "You didn't…you…you…" She's so shocked she can barely get the words out.

"Yes, I did," he says, grinning at her.

"You _transferred_ here?" She yells at him in disbelief, her voice almost back to normal. "You—you can't even _do_ that, Fitz. You can only transfer to and from schools at the end of a semester."

"Trust me, if you know a few important people who can pull a few strings, you can do pretty much anything you want. And it's not like I just woke up two days ago and decided to transfer, I have been planning to do this for some time now."

"For how long?"

"Since that night after the gala when I talked to you until the break of dawn and you never ceased to amaze me. That's when I knew that I couldn't take being so far apart from you anymore—you don't realize how much I need you in my life, Livvie."

She looks away at him, shaking her head. Normally she would've been ecstatic to see him, especially if he told her that he only came to see her, but now, after all the time and energy she'd put into ignoring him and trying to move on with her life, him being there—and there to stay felt wrong on so many levels. "This was the surprise."

Fitz nods happily. "And that's just when I started _planning_. I had thought about moving back here from the moment my eyes made contact with you because I _need_ you, Liv, and I can hardly breathe when you're not around. I talked to you every day like you were a drug because you _are_, in all sense of that word—you make me feel so good that it hurts and I can't get enough of being around you. You control me. You really don't understand how freaking amazing you are, Olivia, and how much you've changed me for the better just by being the perfection that is you." He takes a breath, still staring her down with intense, pleading eyes. Professor Beene strolls into the room and orders everyone to take their seats so that he can start the lesson.

Olivia finally breaks eye contact with Fitz and says hazily, "You need to go."

"I'm not going anywhere, Liv, not anymore. I'm here to stay and you're going to have to learn to like it," he says in forceful tone that makes Olivia gasp because he has never used it with her before, as he gets up slowly, "because we are _not_ done, nor will we ever be. I'll be waiting outside for you."

"Don't you have a class to get to?" she asks quietly, before he leaves, still dazed by everything that's just happened and what he said to her. He turns back to face her and says, "Yes, but we still need to talk and I don't want you running off so quickly, so I'll be here." And with that, he walks out the door.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz waits outside on a bench pretty close to the classroom Olivia is in, leaning over with his elbows on his thighs and tucking his fists under his chin as he stares deeply at the ground. He thinks over his and Olivia's encounter and after going over every inkling of their conversation—his words, hers, the looks on her face, her body language—he comes to the conclusion that things went as well as he could've possibly expected. When he had walked into there, he had been so scared that she was beyond the point of no return with him and then all would've been lost—he would've moved back for nothing—well, maybe not nothing, he would still be able to see her every day and marvel at her from afar, but he came to finally make a relationship between them possible. Thankfully, she had seemed at least a little glad to see him, but she had looked more worried than anything and Fitz had a way to make that disappear.

There was still Mellie to deal with, of course, and Fitz was starting to feel like the biggest asshole on the planet for stringing her along for so long in their long-dead relationship. But he knew that Mellie was smart and if he broke up with her now and started spending more time around Liv, it wouldn't take Mellie long to connect the dots and see the reasoning behind their break up that had been actually occurring right under her nose for months. Because even though he could handle the wrath from both Mellie and his father, he didn't want to put Olivia in a situation that could end up destroying her friendship with Mellie and possibly all her other ones. If he planned this all out correctly, he knew that he and Liv could be together without too many complications.

Fitz continues to run through his thoughts until he sees students exiting classrooms from all over campus. He immediately goes back over to Olivia's, carefully watching to make sure she doesn't slip out unnoticed. After almost all the students have left and he still doesn't see her, he decides to go into the classroom himself, hoping she's still in there. He finds her at the front, talking to the teacher he heard a few other students refer to as 'Professor Beene'—a short, balding man with blonde hair who looks like he's in about his late fifties. He has a sort of creepy, nervous smile that you probably get used to as you get to know him, seeing as how Olivia seems to like him well enough. His tone shows that he's sharp as a whip and could easily slice you up with his words, but friendly and inviting enough to not scare anyone away if they stay on his good side—traits that Fitz sees both the professor and Olivia have in common.

The instructor sees Fitz standing at the door awkwardly, not wanting to barge in on his and Olivia's conversation, and addresses him not unkindly, "And who are you?"

Olivia flips around and sees him, her demeanor changing from somewhat happy to worried again. Fitz flashes her a shaky smile to assure her and then responds to the professor, "Oh, um, Fitzgerald Grant." Fitz walks over and holds out his hand for him to shake, which the professor takes firmly.

All of a sudden he beams at Fitz and exclaims, "Ah, Big Jerry's son, aren't you? Wow, you've grown up to be quite the charmer."

Fitz chuckles nervously. "You know my father?"

"Know him? Son, I led his campaign for senator both times that he ran and won—he's like a brother to me."

Fitz smiles back at him. "Oh, well, I'll be sure to tell him that I ran into you, Mr. Beene."

"Please, call me, Cyrus. That's what all my friends call me, right, Liv?" He turns to Olivia, who nods subtly and mumbles, "Right, Cy."

"So, what brings you here anyway? Do you go here?"

"Ah, yes, I just transferred in from Harvard Law."

"But why? It's one of the top three law schools in the country, not that Berkeley isn't high up either."

Fitz shrugs. "My heart just felt like this is where I belong." He takes a quick glance at Olivia, who no longer looks worried but just outright annoyed with the whole conversation.

Cyrus nods understandingly. "I can relate to that feeling. After almost twenty years in politics, I decided to dial back my life and go back to teaching—one of the best decisions I ever made, especially since I get to mentor and work with smart people like this trooper over here," he says, gesturing towards Liv, who blushes at the compliment, which Fitz thinks is completely adorable. "I wish there had been more young, bright minds like hers in politics when I was still in the game. Liv, you should really look into it. Maybe D.C. is your calling."

Olivia shakes her head. "No, the last thing I want is for my career to be helping a bunch of dirty politicians further corrupt the system. I'll just stick with being a lawyer."

"But they need people like you, Olivia, people with a conscience who are strong enough to stick to their moral grounds and change the game for the better."

"I honestly think that she would be perfect at anything she tries since she's so talented," Fitz says, adding his own two cents. There's an awkward silence as a puzzled expression comes over Cyrus's face, making Olivia glare at Fitz.

"Sorry, but do you two know each other?"

Olivia slightly stumbles over her words while trying to answer, so Fitz jumps in, "Yes, we do. She was one of the first friends that I made when I came to visit here about two months ago. I actually came in here to get her so that she can show me around the grounds a little before her next class. Are you ready to go, Livvie?" Fitz turns, starting for the door, knowing Olivia will follow him because she was eager to leave as soon as he came in.

"Um, yeah…" she responds, coming after him. Fitz looks at the glass wall and can see Cyrus's reflection mouthing animatedly to Olivia, "'Livvie'?"

She rolls her eyes at him and shakes her head, not wanting to get into it. She passes right by Cyrus and he murmurs, still loud enough for Fitz to hear, "You've got yourself a real hottie there. Think you can find one for me?"

But Olivia just ignores him, walking out with Fitz.

"You guys seem pretty close," Fitz states, trying to keep up with Olivia, who's walking a million miles an hour to presumably get away from him. "Did you know him before you started going here?"

Olivia nods. "He's good friends with my mom. I've known him since I was a kid."

Fitz smirks and says, "I don't know if I heard this right but I could've sworn that he called me a 'hottie'."

"Yeah, he did," Olivia tells him, still refusing to make eye contact. "He's gay if you haven't figured it out."

"I thought that he was checking me out—not that I really minded it," Fitz jokes. All of a sudden Olivia puts on the breaks and turns to him, "Why are you really here, Fitz? Why did you move all the way down over here when you know we can't do this? Why do you keep…getting my hopes up when you know that we can never be together?"

"Liv, it's not like we can never be together—I seriously just have to break up with Mellie."

"Then why haven't you done it yet?!" Olivia screams, not meaning to actually say the words that have been floating in her brain since she and Fitz started getting closer.

"Because it's not that simple, Liv, and I'm not saying that because my father would probably gut me if I broke things off with her now. I'm worried about you and how it would impact all your relationships with your friends and other people who would find out. They'd take sides, most likely Mellie's because I know how manipulative she can be, and in the end, you'd be the only one who'd end up getting hurt. And I don't want that."

"So, what, you just want to be with me in the shadows? For how long, Fitz? How long would it last before I started resenting you for keeping me a secret and you resenting me for starting to turn into a bitch about it? I'm not doing this, and I don't appreciate being strung along and having my feelings played with over and over just to be reminded that I can never have what I want. I'm done."

Just as she finishes, they both hear a shrill voice call out, "Oh, my gosh, Fitz! Is that you?" Fitz makes a face, knowing who that voice belongs to. He turns around and sees Mellie rushing towards them.

He side eyes Liv and quickly mutters through his fake smile, "This is not done, yet. We will continue this conversation later."

Olivia shakes her head in exhaustion but nevertheless tries to put on a happy face as Mellie nears them. Mellie immediately attacks Fitz in a hug which he sort of returns.

"What the hell are you doing here? You could've called me to say you were visiting," Mellie exclaims, excitedly.

Fitz clears his throat and tries to match her joyful expression. "I transferred here for the rest of the year. I wanted to…surprise you."

Mellie gushes at this and she gets a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she asks, "You moved back down here for me?"

"Um, yeah…my heart is wherever yours is," Fitz tells her, trying to appeal to her feelings.

"Oh, I love you!" She cries, throwing herself into his arms again and kissing him passionately.

Fitz fakes smiles at her again. "I love you, too." He glances down at Olivia, hating what he's about to see. Olivia gazes away, looking as if she's on the verge of tears or edge of lashing anger, which makes Fitz's heart break piece by piece. She backs away from them and says quietly, "I should go."

"Olivia—" he tries, almost forgetting about Mellie.

"I have a class to get to. I'll see you guys around later. You two have fun," she says drily, recomposing herself with her neutral-faced façade back on and walking away.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

As soon as she's done with her classes for the day, Olivia goes back to her dorm after getting a quick meal in the early afternoon. As soon as she gets to her and Abby's room, she immediately crashes on her bed, feeling emotionally and somehow physically drained. She has a test tomorrow that she knows she should study for but the more she lays down, the more she feels like just forgetting the world and taking a quick break from her life and responsibilities, so she drifts off into a pretty deep sleep. She probably would've slept for hours more if it weren't for the banging on her door that slowly brought her back to consciousness around 5pm. She goes to the door, thinking it's Abby and she forgot her key, but when she swings the door open, she sees Fitz standing there, seemingly out of breath with a anxious expression on his face.

Olivia is still somewhat half asleep and doesn't have the patience or energy to deal with him right now, so she tells him grumpily, "Go away." She tries to slam the door in his face but he easily blocks it from closing. She sees that he's not leaving until he gets a word with her so she lets him in and he quickly steps inside.

"So, this is your room, huh?" he says striding around with that swagger she just can't get enough of. She shakes away that thought, remembering that she's still mad at him. "I like it."

"What do you want, Fitz?" She asks, not trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

"I'm sorry about what happened back there with Mellie. I didn't mean for—I know what it looked like but none of what you saw was true. I want to make it up to you so please let me."

"Fitz, I am getting physically tired of dealing with this—so much that I had to take a nap, and I don't nap, _ever_. But today I'm making an exception, so if you want to make it up to me, you'll leave me alone and let me get some rest."

Fitz sighs dejectedly and heads for the door but stops before he reaches it. "Let me just take you out to dinner—I promise there won't be anything romantic about it," he quickly adds, before she can object. "You can pick wherever you want to go and we'll go. You don't have to get dressed up or anything, heck, if you want, you can even go in some flannel pajamas, I wouldn't mind, but if you _do_ decide to do that, the only place around here that we'll likely get into is McDonald's or Burger King."

She feels a smile rising but suppresses it and continues to just look at him, which makes him continue to talk. "We could do McDonald's. Grab a couple of Happy Meals, play with the cheap toys until they break, and maybe go play hide and seek in the tunnels—that is until one of us gets stuck. And believe it or not that has happened recently, no joke." She cracks a smile and he returns the gesture, saying, "Seriously, Liv, it doesn't have to be anything special if you don't want it to be. We'll just go as friends. Please let me cheer you up, I hate seeing you so sad, especially when it's my fault." She can feel his eyes on her, pleading for a chance but she doesn't want to look up into them because she knows won't even be able to think.

"You have Medusa eyes," she murmurs to herself.

"What?"

"Medusa—the gorgon from ancient Greek myths that had the power to turn anyone who looked into her eyes to stone. You have Medusa eyes, or at least you have that effect on me, because whenever I look into yours, I feel like I become stone." She says, finally glancing up at him, unable to look away for any longer.

He gives her a lopsided smile. "And you don't think that you have same effect on me?" He reluctantly breaks the eye contact and turns around, striding towards the door. "I'll pick you up at seven."

She doesn't object, making Fitz turn back around to face her in surprise. She gives him a look that says to get out before she changes her mind and he does.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz texts Olivia reminding her around 6:30 that he'll come to her door at 7, but she wisely, tells him that they should meet elsewhere because she doesn't want to get any crap from Abby—especially if he shows up right at their door. They agree on a designated spot and Fitz goes to pick Olivia up at 7pm sharp. As he pulls up to the sidewalk she's waiting on, he sees that she took him up on his offer to go dressed casually, wearing a simple t-shirt with a hoodie and some jeans and sneakers, with her hair tied up in a ponytail, and to him she still looks like a goddess.

He hops out of the car and rushes to the other side to open the door for her before she can do it herself. "A Ferrari?" She asks him apprehensively, as she sits inside.

"We did agree that this wouldn't be a fancy evening, however, we didn't agree on 'no fancy cars'," he tells her, then shuts the door once she's completely inside and makes his way over to the driver's side.

"So, you see anything that you like?" he asks as they cruise through town, looking around.

She deliberates for a second and says, "How about McDonald's?"

He looks at her with a shocked expression, but quickly turns his eyes back to the road. "You seriously want to go there? I was just kidding earlier, Liv, you're not wearing flannels and I have enough money so we can go wherever you want."

"Yeah, that's where I want to go. I haven't been in forever." She smiles at him.

He's still surprised but as soon as a McDonald's comes into view, he drives to it. He pulls into the parking lot that's mostly empty, leaving a lot of spaces and goes for one that's right in front the building. He gets out of the car and opens the door for her as she climbs out and they go in. Most of the tables are vacant, except for a grungy-looking old man sitting by himself, a guy in about his twenties chowing down on a burger, and a mother sitting with a baby and her other three kids, trying to get them to eat and stop messing around.

"You sure you want to eat here? We can still go somewhere else," Fitz says to Olivia, feeling like this is the worst place he could've taken her for a date, even a platonic one. But she only walks up to the lady at the counter and says, "Two Happy Meals, please."

Fitz shakes his head, pulling out his wallet and handing the lady a ten. They fill up their tiny-sized cups with fountain drinks and go take a seat in a corner booth. When their food is ready, Fitz goes to get the meals. They open their bags and find cheap action figures from some animated movie that just came out and paper crowns, which they fasten on their heads repeatedly because they keep falling off. They dig into their food, with Fitz trying to eat what he calls a 'sorry excuse for a hamburger', looking like he's about to throw up as he swallows the food down, with a constipated look on his face which makes Olivia giggle at him. He tells Olivia to try the burger and see how she likes it and she does, but after one bite, she goes for a napkin, opting to spit the junk out. Fitz quickly grabs the napkins out of the way, saying she has to swallow because she laughed at him when he was eating his burger. She finally swallows and then crinkles her face in the most adorably angry pout and says, "I hate you," which gets a belly laugh out of Fitz. She starts eating the fries, occasionally telling him to open his mouth and feeding him some, which he also does back to her. They briefly but loudly play with their action figures, earning critical and annoyed glances from both the guy in his twenties and the mom with her kids, but they ignore them. Once they get tired of messing around, they just start talking and joking about random things, and by time they walk out of there around 9:30, Fitz is glad to see that Olivia is in such a good mood that you can't even tell she was upset before.

They hop back in the car and drive back towards the university when Fitz notices the time. "Wow, I can't believe we just spent over two hours having a meal at McDonald's."

"It was fun, though, and I'd gladly endure those crappy burgers again if you're up for it," Olivia says, smiling brightly at him, then murmurs seemingly to herself, "Best date ever."

"So, you admit that this is a date?" He teases, flashing her his trademark teeth-filled grin. She rolls her eyes and nods. "Yeah, as friends."

"Right…friends." They wait at a red light and Fitz turns to her, saying, "So, _friend_, I've also had a lot of fun tonight and I know it's getting late and it's a school night, but I really don't want to take back to your dorm because I know that this night will be over if I do, and I'm not quite ready for that. So, I was wondering if you wanted to go park and hang out by the beach or something—just for a little while."

Olivia thinks this over and Fitz feared that she'd say no but thought he should try anyway, but she only looks back at him and says, "I'd love to."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz parks on the side of the street, close to a part of the beach that's open for all hours of the night. He and Olivia slowly and carefully make their way down the sand, using the moonlight as guidance for their steps. They stop about ten feet from where the ocean recedes and start walking casually on the shore. Fitz watches Olivia as she stares out at the sea with a satisfied and peaceful smile on her face, one that makes Fitz wish he could take all the worries and misfortunes and everything that upsets her out of her life so that he could see her this way all the time. He continues to gaze at her, admiring the way the moonlight hits her face in a way that graces all of her soft features. She's so beautiful to him that it hurts.

"I should really come out here at night more often," she says, looking hypnotically at the little waves. "The water looks so pretty in the moonlight, it's almost mesmerizing."

"It is. Back in Santa Barbara, I always used to come down to the beach at night, just to think and refresh my mind. It really works wonders."

They continue to walk silently, just basking in the comfort of each other's company, until Olivia suddenly says, "I just realized that I didn't tell Abby I'd be going out tonight. She'll probably be worried but she hasn't tried to call me yet so she's probably still with her study group. We still have time." She smiles timidly at him.

He nods. "Yeah, I told Mellie that I was meeting with some academic advisors around 7 and that I'd probably be too tired to meet with her afterwards so I told her we'd just catch up tomorrow."

Olivia sighs. "See? That's what I don't like about this. I don't like how you have to lie to Mellie to spend time with me. She doesn't deserve it and she really loves you."

"I know and I feel like the biggest jerk in the world for what I'm doing—to both of you. I used to love her, too, or at least I thought I did, until I met you. I've never felt such an instant connection with someone like I did, like _do_ with you. Please tell me that you felt it, too."

She looks back at him, struggling to maintain a neutral countenance. "I don't know." This makes him feel slightly dejected but what she says next makes him feel even worse. "But even if you were to break up with Mellie and our friendships still remained intact we still can't be together—"

"BUT WHY?" Fitz exclaims, frustrated. He stops walking and she does the same.

Olivia holds back for a second but finally lets it out. "BECAUSE YOU'RE WHITE!"

He looks at her, his mouth gaping open in an expression of pure shock and terror. _This is why she's been friend-zoning me? Because I'm white?!_

After a long moment of him standing there in disbelief and her staring back at him, now tongue tied, he recovers and angrily spins on his heel, starting back towards the car. "We should go back," he grunts, not even waiting for her to follow him. He thought that what they had went beyond something stupid like race—the idea that that would be a problem in her mind never even occurred to him because he loved her with all his heart and soul and saw her as the most beautiful thing in his world, so race didn't matter, but she obviously didn't feel the same way.

"Fitz, wait—" He doesn't even pause. "Please let me explain—" But he just continues to walk away. "STOP. WALKING." She booms, making him freeze at the firmness in her voice that he's never heard her use before. He hears a breath come out of her and thinks that she's crying, making him spin around as fast as possible in dread, but he sees her sigh as she asks, "Do you know who my father is?"

Fitz shakes his head, saying quietly, "No, you haven't really told me much about him—I don't even know his name, maybe if I did—"

"Elijah Pope. Owner of Pope & Co., one of the most prestigious law firms in the country." Fitz thinks about it and feels like he's heard the firm name before. "On top of that, he's also involved in several business ventures and has a lot of influence in politics, making him very rich, accomplished, and powerful, but he prefers to scheme in the background. My father and a man of the name of Harold Davis, co-owner of Davis & Lee—another prominent law firm, have made an arrangement to set me up as the future wife of Harold Davis's son, Edison Davis, the boy you saw me with at the gala that you kept referring to as Bill Cosby. They want us together so that we can move on to become a powerful black couple in America, and who knows, maybe even go for the White House." Fitz feels his blood boiling again out of anger towards her father and Edison, who he thought looked familiar and now remembers from Harvard—the rich smart-ass that slept with anything with a pulse. There was no way in hell he was going to stand around and let Liv, _his_ Livvie, marry that douchebag. Someone would have to kill him before that happened.

"But I don't love Edison—I don't even like him or feel for him what I do for you." Fitz relaxes and feels a little relief at this confession. "And I would object to my father's plans for me but for now, I have to go along with whatever he says because whether I like or not, I need his money for school and his help if I'm going to have a successful career."

Fitz calms down, now seeing where she's coming from. "I guess I can relate," he says, cracking her a half smile. "My father has been trying to set me up with someone 'suitable' for my career since I was in high school. Mellie was actually an arrangement put in place by him. He had us spend three months together so that I would fall for her and I was somehow able to convince myself into being in love with her, but, Liv, I was wrong. I've wasted so much time trying to make myself feel okay with being with her but I can't do it anymore, because I don't want to settle. Before my mother died, she always sensed that I was upset and never really felt complete and she always told me that I should try to go for what felt right inside—that I should try and fight for happiness and for what I want. And I want you. I love you, Olivia Pope," he tells her point blank. "I am in love with you."

She shakes her head at him, telling him, "Don't say things that you don't mean—"

"But I _do_ mean it, completely," he says, walking up to her until he's right in her face. "And I want you," he says, staring into her eyes but slowly moving his down to her lips, and before he knows what he's doing, he puts his lips to hers, closing the remaining space between them.

He kisses her gently at first, not wanting to scare her away, and it works because after a few seconds, she begins to return the motion. He takes his time caressing her incredibly soft lips, but feels the hunger to connect with her even more. He smoothly slides his tongue to her lips, asking for access and after small hesitation, she gives it to him, and their tongues get to work together. After several seconds more of this, she pulls her mouth away from his, gasping, "Fitz…" But he reconnects them, gripping her tighter as he backs them up towards a huge boulder, trapping her between him and it.

She breaks contact again and puts her hand to his chest, slightly pushing him away, saying, "We can't…"

"Don't," he tells her sternly, attacking her lips again and forcing his way into her mouth until she stops fighting it and they get back into their former rhythm.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Five minutes later, they're standing apart from one another panting, having stopped their make-out session before they could take things to the next level, which was and still is especially hard for Fitz, since he feels like laying her down right there on the sand and finishing from where they left off. He turns to her, looking her in the eyes and firmly tells her, "I'm breaking things off with Mellie and we're going to be together. Openly."

She shakes her head no. "Fitz, calm down, you can't just break up with Mellie and be with me. First of all, our parents would kill us, and Mellie is my friend and she'd never forgive me if things ended like this. We need to take things slow."

He thinks things through and agrees, "Okay, but I promise that one day, very soon, we'll be together in the open and everyone else will just have to deal with it, because I am NEVER letting you go."

Her mouth cracks into a small smile, which Fitz returns. "We're in this together, then?"

Olivia gives him a nod and affirms, "We're in this together."

He holds out his hand for her to take, which she does after slight hesitation, and they walk back to the car, playfully swinging their hands together like a pendulum. They get in the car and drive back to the university, with his hand on hers the whole way. He pulls up to the spot where he picked her up and it's now a little past 10pm. He goes around the car to open her door for her, reluctantly letting her hand go and she gets out.

"I really wish that I could walk you back to your room," Fitz tells her, taking her hand in his again.

"Me, too, but it's too risky. Are you staying in a dorm, too?"

"Now that's another surprise of mine that'll you just have to wait to see."

"Okay." She looks down, biting her lip. "So, when will we…do this again?"

He sees that she's worried about him going back on his word and forgetting about her after tonight. He puts his hand gently to her chin and tilts it up until their eyes connect. "Liv, I need you to know that I meant every word I said tonight. We're going to be together and we're going to make this work. It'll be a little hard navigating it at first but we'll figure it out." She nods, relaxing a little.

"Why don't we go for lunch off campus tomorrow, or maybe we can get a bite to eat after all your classes are done?" He says. "We can do something like that as often as you like and go on a few dates like this one."

"Yeah, okay, that works. So, tomorrow?" She asks.

"Tomorrow," he confirms. "You can pick wherever you want to go and we'll meet up here again so I can pick you up." Since it's a pretty well hidden area where not too many people will see them, even during school hours.

"Okay." Her eyes flash with excitement and she hugs him, which kind of surprises him, but he quickly returns the gesture. He breathes her in, feeling so at peace in her arms and smiles against her. She starts to pull away but before she does entirely, Fitz lays a soft kiss on her lips, and says, "Goodnight, Olivia."

She gasps but quickly tries to cover it up, making Fitz chuckle internally, and says back, "Goodnight, Fitz." She turns away and starts heading toward her dorm. Fitz watches her until she's out of sight and then takes off, feeling happier than he has in his whole life.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia slips into her room and sees that Abby is in their bathroom in pajamas, brushing her teeth. "Liv?" She takes the toothbrush out of her mouth and calmly says, "I was wondering where you went. I just got back from the study group about five minutes ago."

"Oh," Olivia says with an inner sigh of relief, grateful that she's not going to get hounded with questions by her interrogative and intuitive friend. "I just went by Macey's room to give her back some notes she lent to me that I missed and ask her about a few other things."

"Oh, okay." Abby gurgles and then walks out of the bathroom, climbing into her bed. Olivia follows suit, hopping into her bed after brushing her teeth and changing into her flannels.

She turns off her night lamp and Abby turns in her bed to do the same, but not before asking, "Hey, are ready for Simpson's test tomorrow? Even at the study group we were still all having trouble with the material. You should've come, Liv."

"Yeah, I don't know, I guess I just got…busy."

Abby shrugs and turns out her light. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Olivia says back, stifling a groan, knowing she was going to fail that test the next day. Hopefully this new thing would Fitz wouldn't start affecting her life in too many negative ways. _You better be worth it, Fitz_.

**If that wasn't enough Olitz for you, I don't what is! I hope this chapter satisfied you all in its angst and romance. How do you think Liv and Fitz will navigate their newly-found relationship so that it works? Are you mad at Fitz for not breaking it off with Mellie? Are you mad at Olivia for allowing herself to become Fitz's sidechick, even though she's technically the love of his life? Are you mad at both of them? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading.**


	7. Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

**Sorry this has taken so long—it was a LONG chapter so it took a while to write but I don't doubt that you'll love it. LOTS of juicy stuff. Thanks for all the reviews and for letting me know your opinions which are much appreciated. Some of you mentioned that Olivia shouldn't even be worried about her father since she got a free ride to Berkeley (it was nearly a full scholarship), but after her four years of undergrad, she's still going to need money for law school, which is another three years, and Olivia on the show also used her father to pay for her law school loans which is why she had to have dinners with him—so unless she gets another scholarship, she's still going to need him, and she also wants his help to further her career, though we all know she doesn't need it because she's brilliant =D. Many of you are also upset at Fitz and Liv which is understandable—but since their relationship just took off last chapter, I shall continue to toy with your emotions even further *evil laugh* Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: Mi Casa Es Tu Casa**

Olivia couldn't be happier for the weekend. This week had been such a killer with schoolwork that she had had to cancel two of the four lunch or afterschool meal dates she and Fitz had planned to go on. He didn't seem to mind too much and Olivia figured it was because of some surprise he had been hinting at since Wednesday whenever they talked on the phone. Olivia normally hated surprises and was now especially wary of Fitz's, since his last one resulted in him moving across the country and transferring to a different school just to be with her—and now they were together, just not in the way that either of them preferred. But he had promised that he would try to make it work and so did she, so she had agreed to Fitz's Friday night plan to take her out on a date. He had told her that she could eat something if she wanted to because they weren't exactly going out to dinner. He had also said they might be out pretty late and that she should wear something comfortable and casual. So, Olivia got ready around 6pm, choosing to wear a light pink, sleeveless shirt with a long white cardigan and some blue jeans along with a pair of dark brown designer boots her mom had given her for her birthday. She didn't really know what to do with her hair so she just pressed it straight and added a few curls at the ends. By 7, she was almost done, and just had to do her make-up when Abby came into her room, asking what she was getting ready for, mostly likely assuming that they were just going to stay in for the night. Olivia had been prepared for this question and gave her the excuse that she was going to Santa Cruz to take Nathan to some fair he's been talking about for weeks—a lie, since she was going to be spending her evening with Fitz, but Abby took her word for it.

Olivia told Abby she'd be back maybe around midnight or a little later and then slipped some of her make-up into her purse, not wanting to put it on in front of Abby, in case she started suspecting something more. After leaving her dorm, Olivia finds a public restroom around the campus and applies her make-up in front of one of the mirrors. As soon as she's done, she goes to her car and drives to a parking lot on campus far away enough from her dorm and picks a spot, waiting in her car until Fitz comes to get her.

When he pulls up next to her about ten minutes after she's waited, Olivia doesn't realize he's there until she looks up and sees him smiling down at her from a truck. She gives him quizzical look and gets out of the car.

He does the same, greeting, "Hello, beautiful." He's wearing a red cashmere sweater and some jeans.

"Hey, Handsome," she says back, as he comes up and pulls her to him, laying a kiss on her forehead. "So, how many cars do you have?" She asks, ogling at his shiny Ford F-150.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" He asks as they walk over to his truck and he opens the passenger door for her.

She ponders as she climbs into the car. "Mmm, not really. But I'm just curious as to why you switched out a Ferrari for a truck when you've been using the Ferrari all week."

"Let's just say that I thought a truck would better compliment where we're going tonight." He closes her door and makes his way to the driver seat.

"And where would that be?" Olivia asks once Fitz is in the car. He turns to her and just stares at her for a few seconds, squinting his eyes like he's in deep thought before finally saying, "I'm taking you to a drive-in movie. I thought it'd be something different and relaxing since you've had such a long week. Does that sound good to you?"

She grins at him and quickly pecks him on the lips. "That sounds perfect."

He smiles back and starts the car. The drive takes about an hour and in that time Olivia and Fitz just happen to talk about everything in existence—with Olivia doing most of the talking because for whatever reason, whenever she's around Fitz, she can't stop her thoughts and mouth from running at a thousand miles an hour and saying whatever's on her mind, no matter how ridiculous she might sound. Just when she's about to go on a rant about something trivial and ludicrous, she stops herself and turns to Fitz thinking that she's boring him out of his mind. He briefly looks at her like he was just shaken out of a trance. "What?" he asks, sounding worried.

"Am I annoying you? Because if I am I'll stop talking right now," she says, her voice shrinking to the size of a mouse's.

"You could never annoy me, Liv. I was just listening."

"But you've hardly said anything in like twenty minutes and I thought it was because I barely ever paused to give you time to speak."

"Livvie, I haven't said anything in twenty minutes because I like listening to you. I like hearing what you have to say and getting insight on all your opinions, some of which I disagree with but you make very valid points. But most of all I just love the sound of your voice. I wake up in the morning craving it and believe it or not, I spend hours just thinking about how it's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard."

She chuckles. "Now that's a little creepy, but I'll admit that I do wake up craving your voice, too."

"So, what are these opinions of mine that you disagree with?" She asks inquisitively.

They end up getting into a heated debate about whether Iron Man makes a better superhero than Thor and vice versa—Olivia siding with Thor and Fitz taking Iron Man's side. Fitz accuses her of just liking Thor because of his Australian accent and 'man-boobs', and Olivia tells him that he's being sexist and jealous, then accuses him of only choosing Iron Man for his narcissistic and sardonic personality, which she admits is funny at times but doesn't believe it makes him a better hero. They eventually give up, laughing at each other's sometimes ridiculous arguments and spend the rest of the ride in silence.

They arrive twenty minutes to eight at the drive-in that's already pretty packed, making Fitz say, "Maybe we should've come a little early." But Olivia just shrugs that it's fine, since they probably won't even be paying too much attention to the movie anyway.

They find a spot at the very back of the lot after getting their snacks and drinks, Fitz making sure he got some popcorn because he knows how much Olivia loves it.

"Um, Fitz, why are we facing the wrong way?" She asks, raising her eyebrow at him. He tells her to wait for a second as he gets out of the car and takes some blankets and a few pillows out of the backseat. He brings down the back of the trunk then lays the blankets down suitably on the bed of the truck and places the pillows securely at the opposite side of the end of the truck. He goes to get Olivia who freezes, almost dropping their snacks and drinks, as soon as she sees the arrangement.

"I thought that this would be a little more comfortable than staying in the car and this way we can also be as close as we want to each other," he says a little shyly. He marvels at how only one person in the world has the power to make him blush like a schoolboy.

She stands on her tiptoes and lays a soft kiss on his cheek. "I love it. This might just top the McDonald's date."

He releases a breath once she says she's okay with it. He had been scared that maybe he was pushing them a little too fast and that she might want to back out. It wasn't exactly a bed and there were tons of people around but he didn't want her getting the idea that _that's_ where he wanted to take them when they technically hadn't even been 'sort of dating', as she called it, for a week. But she happily climbs onto the truck and starts getting comfortable, wrapping herself up in a blanket. She looks at him because he's just standing there with a goofy smile on his face and asks, "Well, are you going to join me? Because it is still a pretty chilly night and I think I'm going to need more than just this blanket to keep me warm."

Fitz doesn't wait a single second more and climbs up, sitting next to her and letting her lay her head on his chest as he puts his arms around her. He finally exhales, relaxing, and feeling so content in this moment. She feels so perfect in his arms and he can't resist from burying his face lovingly into her hair like she's his favorite teddy bear, which makes her giggle.

At nine, the movie begins—a popular superhero movie that came out a few weeks ago—which he thought would be perfect because it had just enough action in it to keep him awake, something he thought would be almost impossible being curled up next to Olivia, but enough quiet moments to allow for a possible make-out session.

They were halfway through the movie, which was actually keeping Fitz's interest quite well and Olivia's, or so he thought, when she started fidgeting and eventually sat up, looking panicked.

"Livvie, what's wrong?" Fitz asks, now just as alarmed.

She shakes her head frantically. "We can't do this. Someone from school is going to see us together here and then they'll see you with Mellie, if they haven't already, and they might tell her and then—"

He puts a finger to her lips. "Olivia, you need to calm down, okay? Just calm down." He waits until she starts breathing normally again before continuing, "First of all, I picked this theater even though there were ones that were much closer because of that possibility, and besides, even if there was someone from school here, there's a high likelihood that they've never seen either of us before since Berkeley has a pretty large amount of students. And there are so many families and couples here, no one will even notice us. We're fine, Liv." He puts his mouth to hers and kisses her passionately until he feels her starting to physically relax. He pulls away and smiles reassuringly at her, she nods that she's okay now, and he slides her onto his lap and puts his arms back around her, holding her tightly, and whispering, "Just relax, Livvie. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

By 11pm the movie had finished and Fitz and Olivia were now three quarters of the way back into to town. Olivia had long since calmed down and was feeling tired but wasn't quite ready to go home yet, which is why she had told Abby that she was going to be out until one. She reclines back in her seat and puts her feet up on the dashboard, something she's always wanted but never really had the courage to do, since it wasn't very 'lady-like' in her parents' book.

"You tired now?" Fitz asks, briefly looking over at her.

"Yes," she replies lazily, "but I don't want this night to be over quite yet."

"It doesn't have to be—if you're ready for my next surprise."

She turns to him. "And that would be?"

He smiles and Olivia hears the indicators and feels the truck make a turn a sharp turn and slow down as they go over a bump. She sits up and looks out the window, seeing what looks like an apartment complex in the headlights. Fitz parks in front of the one of the buildings and gets out. He opens Olivia's door, as usual, and holds out his hand which she takes after hesitation. He helps her climb out of the car and they head toward the apartments.

"Mine's on the top floor so we'll take the elevator, though I probably should go up those flights of stairs to work off all the fatty food I just had tonight. However, you, my dear, don't need the exercise, but since I'm not leaving your side, I'll be joining you on the elevator," he says, as they step into the elevator and he lays a kiss on her temple, hugging her to his body. She in return throws her arms around his waist and buries her head into his chest as the elevator doors close.

As soon as they get to the fifth floor, the top, Fitz guides them over to his door which is only a few steps away from the elevator, jingles his key in the keyhole, and opens the door. Olivia sees that they're in a small hallway and continues to walk until it opens up into a large room, with a flat screen TV, a coffee table in the middle of a circular rug, and a long couch up against a half wall that serves as a counter for the kitchen, which is just a couple stairs up at the back of the room. Olivia looks on her left into another room, much smaller, with a king-size bed. She turns back to the bigger room and walks slowly further into the living room, towards the vast, wide windows that are streaming waves of moonlight into the apartment and she sees that on the other side of one of these windows is a balcony. She stops once she reaches the windows and gasps at the stunning, panoramic view of the city lights below them that split into the ocean.

"Wow…this is amazing," she says, as Fitz comes up behind her and slides his arm back around her waist as they stare at the view together. "I know. I thought you'd love the view as much as I did so I decided to go with this apartment. I'm just renting it out for the rest of the school year, unless I stay here for good which wouldn't be very hard since I don't ever want to live more than thirty miles away from you ever again, much less three thousand. So, I was thinking that this place would be a good hangout spot for us, until I can find something better."

"Have you brought Mellie here yet?" Olivia asks, before she can stop herself. She shakes her head and says, "I'm sorry. There I go again…"

"It's fine," he says reassuringly. "And no, I haven't brought her, I kind of hinted at it but she didn't really ask, so, no."

"What's she doing tonight, anyway?" Olivia asks, again unable to tamper down her curiosity and worries.

"Busy," Fitz answers. "Some of her friends from SoCal are up here for the weekend so she'll hanging out with them." Olivia nods, knowing that he's not lying.

He smiles peacefully. "She hasn't even tried to talk to me at all today, and it's actually been really nice."

Olivia snorts at this, turning around and looking up at him. "There's no way I'd be able to go a day without talking to you and still be okay. You have me caught up in your spell."

"Likewise," he says, putting his hand to her cheek and brushing his lips softly against hers. She returns the movement, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. His tongue asks for entrance into her mouth and she doesn't waste a second letting him in. She relishes in how great his lips and tongue taste and dreams of being able to do this forever. Things start to escalate quickly as she feels Fitz pushing their bodies even closer together and it's almost as if they think in sync, as Olivia jumps up and Fitz catches her at her lower thighs as she wraps her legs around his waist, their mouths briefly disconnecting during the move, making Olivia whimper as the passionate fire engulfing her lips goes out and they're instead hit with the cold air in the room until she fiercely reconnects their mouths again. Fitz guides them over to the couch and sits down upright with Olivia still straddling him, fervently running her fingers through his wavy hair. Fitz begins to lay sloppy kisses all over her face, going down to her neck and collarbone and laying her down so that he's on top in a way that's not crushing her. She tugs at his sweater and he pauses, violently pulling it off and throwing it somewhere in the room. Olivia follows his example and takes off her cardigan with help from Fitz, and then rushes at his lips again. Olivia lets out a moan as he starts to sensually slide his hands under her shirt, lighting her skin on fire as he slowly glides his fingers along her lower back, up her sides until he reaches the edge of her bra. But she realizes where they're about to go and pulls her mouth away from his, gasping, "Fitz."

"Mmm, yeah…" he mumbles in between laying open-mouth kisses on her neck and shoulder, down her arm, making her mind go foggy. She comes back into focus as he starts to lift her shirt and she takes his hands, pulling them down along with the shirt. Fitz finally stops and looks at her with hazy eyes, panting, "What? What's wrong?"

Olivia had never really allowed herself to get that close with any guy before, much less Jake who she had outright refused to have sex with. Though, as soon as they hit that couch, she had been ready to give up her v-card to Fitz tonight, but she knew at the back of her mind that it would be wrong since they still weren't officially a couple. His heart was hers but everything else still belonged to Mellie.

She motions for Fitz to move off of her and they both sit up. Fitz looks down at the floor, hanging his head in embarrassment. Olivia feels bad for shutting him down like that, but nonetheless, says, "We can't…not yet. You're technically still with Mellie and it would just make me feel dirty and even guiltier than I already do. I even feel dirty just making out with you and being here..."

Fitz sighs. "Liv, I'd never pressure you into anything and I don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable with anything we're doing or the pace of this…" He purses his lips together, not knowing what to call their sticky situation anymore. "I want you so badly, and I know this is incredibly unfair to you, but please, Olivia, if you just wait and let us figure this out—I _know_ it'll work. We just need to come up with a game plan to sort this all out."

She remains quiet for a moment, thinking about what he just said and then turns to face him, looking him in the eyes. "Then let's game plan."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz turns on a nearby lamp and goes to grab his sweater, which landed in the kitchen and apparently knocked over a cup of water when it went flying, and put it back on. He picks up the sweater but feels that part of it is wet, so he goes to get another one.

"What are you doing?" Olivia asks, sitting tensely on the couch.

"Just getting another shirt. This one got wet when I threw it off and it hit a cup of water," he tells her, holding up the sweater and heading towards his bedroom.

Olivia blushes, now recalling that she heard some kind of clanking noise while they were involved with each other. "Wait, it's fine, you don't have to get another shirt…" She says in a tiny voice. But he heard her—he always hears her.

A mischievous smirk appears on his face as he comes back into the room. "Is there something you're trying to tell me?"

She rolls her eyes at him, but he just leans against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for her to confess. She sighs and quickly says, "I like seeing you shirtless."

Fitz is tempted to ask her again since she said it so fast but decides to nod with a jubilant smile on his face and sit down next to her on the couch, earning him another eye roll out of Olivia.

Fitz gets more serious, starting the conversation with, "Okay, so, I guess we should start with Mellie. She's not our biggest problem but she is still an instrumental part in this mess. How do we get rid of her without having a nightmare on our hands with both of our fathers?"

Fitz thinks to himself for a while before staring back at Olivia who looks in even deeper thought. "You got something, Liv?" He prompts.

"What if we could get Mellie to break up with you? Not for cheating but for something else, like if you started acting really depressed or started pushing her away by not doing normal boyfriend and girlfriend stuff with her—a few weeks ago she had thought that you were cheating on her and…she was crying and…" Olivia drifts off, beginning to feel guilty again. "I don't want to have to make her feel that way again but—"

"It wouldn't work, anyway," Fitz interjects respectfully. "Mellie had been upset when she suspected I was cheating because she is still a human being with feelings and self-respect, but now Mellie claims that she loves me and is all happy-go-lucky because she thinks that our relationship is going just fine, and even if I were to start acting mopey around her and like I don't care, she still wouldn't break it off since she's also well aware of the business arrangement between my dad and hers—she wouldn't want to ruin that. Also, she'd probably just think I'm going through some weird phase that I'll get over within a few months."

"And what if you didn't get over this phase in a few months? What if it lasted for a few years?"

"Well, then it would be on me, because there's no way in hell I'm staying with her for another year, much less a few. And if she did grow tired of my lethargic attitude, she'd probably ask my father to light a torch under my ass by threatening to disown me or something until I started behaving better. In whichever case, she'd still win."

Olivia nods, slightly dejected. "So, _you_ have to break up with her. Alright, then why don't you break things off at the end of the year? You can affably tell her the truth, that you guys just don't work together and that you want to be with me. Hopefully over the three months of summer she will have calmed down and maybe been set up with someone else. Then you can tell your father that you broke up with her because you met someone else, but you don't say it's me, not until we figure out how to deal with my father."

Fitz nods, thinking it's a good strategy until he realizes that there's one pretty big hole in their plan. "Wait, but we still have a Mellie problem, even if I break up with her, because I doubt she'll keep her mouth shut and if she gives Big Jerry your name, which she will out of spite, and he doesn't approve of you, which he probably won't because of racial differences, it won't take long before he's contacting your dad to tell him to control you."

Olivia bends her head back, looking up at the ceiling in what Fitz guesses is frustration. They sit there, silently trying to come up with more options. Olivia gets up and starts walking in circles, something Fitz has never seen her do before, but assumes it's a common action whenever she gets baffled. He continues to just stare at her, his mind hurting from repeatedly thinking of more possibilities, only to run into another problem again. He admires the way Olivia's eyes flicker up and down and then up again or how she brings up her little hands and points her fingers all over the place like she's physically mending the problem, but clasps her hands together when she runs into a dead end. Or the way she purses her lips together when she's really starting to get trumped and Fitz can't help but think about how good those lips tasted just ten minutes ago and how much he wishes she would come back on the couch and kiss him with that same fire and passion as before. He shakes his head, throwing his gaze to the ground, finally realizing that he won't be able to think anything rational if he keeps staring at her. He thinks that might also be part of the reason she got up and started walking around, since he noticed that whenever he was talking, she would look him in the eyes but occasionally drop her gaze down to his chest and bite her lip, her tell-tale sign that she was checking him out.

He looks back up because she's stopped in the middle of one of her cycles and gives him a look that has 'eureka' written all over it. "What is it, Liv?"

She starts slowly walking around again but now back-and-forth in line, which slightly worries Fitz, but she begins, "We don't tell either of them about me. You still break up with Mellie at the end of the school year but you don't tell her it's because of me but because you're not compatible or something. She'll be livid but I don't think she suspects anything between us right now and as long as we're extra careful for the next six and a half months, she'll continue to not suspect anything. I wish you could end it now but since you're going to school here and you're closer, if you broke up with her now she'd keep a more watchful eye on you and we'd likely get caught. So, you break things off at the end of the school year, you'll have graduated and won't have to see her anymore, and I won't mention anything to Mellie about us. Besides, she'll probably already have found someone else by then and her mind will be long past thinking about you." Fitz nods in agreement but stays quiet as he sees Olivia getting ready to continue, "And concerning your father, since Mellie hopefully won't know that you're dumping her for me, Big Jerry won't find out by her, though he will ask why you broke things off and you'll say that you just didn't want to be with her anymore and that you want to be single for a while until your career takes off a bit. He might not like the decision but it at least ensures that he won't disown you since it makes some sense to anybody else that you'd want to wait a little longer before settling down because you're still pretty young. It also takes care of my dad finding out about us from Big Jerry because he won't have to ask for a girl which means he won't have to know my name." She finally takes a breath but resumes again, "I know it's not a perfect plan because we still can't be together openly, but it takes care of the cheating issue and getting your dad off your back." She takes a seat in his lap, sitting perpendicular to his legs so that she can still look at him and brushes some of his curls back from his forehead, continuing to run her fingers affectionately through the rest of his hair, causing him to close his eyes and release a joyful moan from his lips. She stops after a while and he pouts back her, making a laugh escape from her. She grows serious again, saying, "It buys us a little time until we can plan further to deal with my father because I don't believe he'll be manipulated quite as easily. Taking him on will be a whole different ball game."

He turns her towards the front so that she's lying back against him and he wraps his arms around her, placing his chin snuggly on top of her head. "It's a brilliant plan, Liv, it'll work. And you're right, we'll figure out how to handle your father once we finish dealing with Mellie and Big Jerry. And that pain-in-the-ass Edison. Have I mentioned how there's no way in hell I'm letting him marry you? Not while I'm around…"

"You might have mentioned that a few times," she says back and he can hear the smile in her voice. They sit like that, relishing in the peace and quiet, for a few minutes until Olivia breaks the silence with, "I'm sorry that I ruined things back there at the movie and how I keep questioning you about Mellie and over panicking about us being seen together. The thing is, Fitz, I honestly don't believe that I've ever been this happy before in my life, even if our relationship isn't conventional yet, and that really scares me because it feels like whenever something remotely good comes into my life, it always gets ripped away from me. And if something were to happen to you, if you were to also get ripped away from me because of Mellie or our fathers or whatever other force, it would break me because I'm already invested too much into this and I wouldn't be able to cope if—"

"Liv, first off, you didn't ruin anything—tonight was one of the best nights of my life, but I understand why you freaked back there and why you keep questioning me because you're right, this isn't a conventional relationship, and you don't know how much I hate having to hide you when all I want to do is climb to the top of the highest mountain and proclaim my love for the most beautiful woman in the world for all to hear. And I hated that terrified look on your face when you thought we were going to be found out—I wish that I could just wipe out anything and everything in the world that makes you feel even the slightest bit afraid, but I can't. Though, I _can_ promise that I will always stand by you and be there when you need me because as I've said before, _I am not going anywhere_. You don't know how much you've changed me, Livvie, when I'm with you I feel like the happiest and luckiest man in the world. If something or someone were to rip you away from me…I can't even…I love you more than you will ever know, please believe me on that, and I will stay by your side for as long as you want me to."

"I'll always want you by my side," she whispers, nuzzling her head further into Fitz's chest. He kisses the top of her head and lays his head gently on top of hers, still holding her tightly. After about twenty minutes, Fitz feels himself starting to drift off and inadvertently fidgets on the couch, momentarily forgetting where they are and hears a small whimper escape from Olivia. "Liv...?" he checks, shifting her lightly to the side of his legs until he sees her face. Her eyes are closed and she whimpers again as she lays her head satisfactorily onto his chest.

He hadn't planned on her sleeping there. Had he thought about it, though? Yes, and when he thought that they were going to make love, there was no way he was going to let her leave until the morning. But he had originally decided not to ask her and just let her choose herself since he didn't want her to feel pressured into anything with him. But by the way she was happily smiling against him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and bending her legs into her stomach so that her feet were on the couch, Fitz figured she had made her decision.

He contemplates taking her to his bedroom but decides against it, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable with the idea in the morning. He carefully slides her off of him and stands up. She reaches for him, her eyes blinking open and closed as she calls for him, "Fitz…?"

He shushes her and whispers, "I'll be right back." With that, he leaves her on the couch and she goes back to sleep. He finds that he needs to make a quick trip to the bathroom, then comes back a minute later and fetches a few blankets and a pillow out of the closet in the hallway. He then comes back to the couch and immediately lays the blankets over Olivia and gently tucks the pillow under her head. He sees that her shoes are still on and kneels down on the ground, starting to undo the laces of her boots and carefully slip them off without bothering her too much. He turns out the lamp on the desk right next to the couch so that the only light in the room is coming from the moon and slowly lifts up the blankets and slides in next to Olivia, thankful that he had decided to go with this couch when he was buying furniture because it was not only extremely cushy but had enough space for them both to lay comfortably on their sides—two things that were necessary because he saw them doing this habitually.

Olivia releases another adorable whimper, bringing a smile to Fitz's face as he positions them under the blankets so that his arm is around her and he's shielding her body from the outside as she faces the couch. He places a soft kiss on her temple, making her snuggle in deeper to him, and whispers into her ear, "Goodnight, Livvie."

As soon as his head hits the pillow, he's out and they both sleep better than they have in a long time.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia wakes up in the morning, thinking she's in her bed back at the dorm but when she opens her eyes a little more she sees that she's sleeping on a couch rather than a bed—the couch she shared with Fitz the night before. She flips around and finds that he's gone, leaving her in a bundle of blankets. She sits up and looks down at her feet to see that she only has socks on and now vaguely remembers Fitz taking off her boots, which are right by the couch on the floor. She glances back up and the view outside immediately catches her attention. She walks over to the windows, taking in the beautiful sight of the city in the daylight. She looks over to the ocean, admiring the perfectly royal blue waters and sees little dots, who she assumes are people, all over the beach.

Olivia is pulled out of her trance when she hears the music that had been playing quietly throughout the apartment get slightly louder and "She Will Be Loved" starts playing, but she hears another voice that doesn't quite go with the song and turns to the kitchen to see Fitz standing over the stove, cooking. He isn't shirtless anymore, now wearing a T-shirt, and had switched out his jeans for some basketball shorts. She climbs up the two steps to the kitchen, but he doesn't notice her as she giggles when he starts singing part of the song in falsetto, slightly off key but she still thinks he sounds extremely sexy. _How can anyone be so perfect?_ She asks herself. She walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his abdomen, being careful not to place her hands too close to the stove and says, "What a beautiful voice you have."

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. Did you have sweet dreams?" Fitz says back, adjusting his arms to give her more flexibility.

"The sweetest," she replies, laying her cheek against his back, lovingly. "I didn't know you could cook."

"A man's gotta learn these things—you know, so that he doesn't starve his beautiful queen."

Her heart flutters at this. "Did you just call me your queen?"

"Do you like it?" He asks, turning his head back towards her.

"I love it. And I guess that means you're my king?" She slips her hands under his shirt, making circles on his chest then slowly gliding down to his lower stomach.

He moans and she knows exactly what she's doing to him. He turns around and faces her, taking her hands in his own. "If you want, we can go finish this on the couch or _in the bedroom_," he says to her, only half teasing.

"Fitz, remember what we talked about yesterday? Not yet…And besides, your _queen_ is really hungry, so she requests that you keep cooking and resume your singing at once!" She orders playfully, backing away from him, turning the radio up a little higher, and taking a seat at the little dining table in the room as she stares at him expectantly.

He lets out a belly laugh and does as she says. Olivia struggles not to giggle again as his naturally baritone voice tries to hit Adam Levine's tenor and falsetto notes, failing epically, but she can't hold in her laughter. Fitz blushes and pouts at her, whining, "I'm not going to continue to sing if you keep laughing."

She full out laughs and walks back over to embrace him. He in return takes her in his arms in a big bear hug and she tells him seriously, "Sing to me. I promise I won't laugh." He continues to sing, right into her ear as she lays her head against his chest.

"_I don't mind spending every day _

_Out on your corner in the pourin' rain_

_Look for the girl with the broken smile _

_Ask her if she wants to stay a while _

_And she will be loved, and she will be loved_

_And she will be loved, and she will be loved_"

She breathes in his scent and he places a lingering kiss on her forehead. She feels so at peace, like all is right in the world in that moment, but then she remembers that it's not—that they still have to hide their love and feelings for each other because no one wants them together. She pulls away from Fitz at this thought and he instantly knows something's wrong.

"What's the matter?"

She turns to face him. "It's just…this feels so good right now—us in this moment, but I know it won't last because as soon as we leave this apartment, we're going to have to go back to pretending that we don't like each other the way we do."

Fitz stares at the ground for a moment, pondering this before finally saying, "Then we won't leave—at least not today." He spins her around and places his chin back on top of her head, never letting her go. "We could hide out in here all day. I have enough food to keep us well-nourished for days, and if you really want to, we could order some pizza up. We could watch some movies, listen to some music, sing, dance, kiss…" He starts to caress a line from her face to her neck.

She tries to push him away because she can't think clearly with him doing that, but he just holds her tighter. "Our friends are going to wonder where we are, especially if both of us are missing, they're going to start to get suspicious. Crap! Abby's probably freaking out as we speak because I didn't give her a heads up that I wasn't coming back to the dorm last night. I told her I was taking Nathan to some fair and would be back by late yesterday night. What am I supposed to tell her now? This is all your fault, mister, for being too dang cute." He chuckles at her as she takes his lips to hers for a fervent kiss.

He pulls away. "Just tell her that you decided to spend the night at your dad's because you were too tired to drive back, and that you wanted a little more time with Nathan so you're going to stay the whole weekend."

"The whole weekend? What happened to just for today?"

"I was hoping to push my luck."

She smiles at him. "How about clothes?"

"I have a whole closet full of them. I'm sure we could find something to fit your beautiful, little body."

"And homework?"

"I think that I'm worth failing all of your classes, don't you?"

She laughs, rolling her eyes but becomes serious. "Mellie?"

"Like I said earlier, she's going to be with her girlfriends from SoCal for the whole weekend. We have nothing to worry about, Liv."

She sighs and then faces him. "Fine. But I'm going back to the university tomorrow."

"This means you're spending the night here again?" He asks eagerly, looking like a little boy excited for a sleepover.

"Yes."

He picks her up, spinning her around, earning him a squeal out of Olivia. He puts her down and says with a big smile, "Good. I sleep a lot better when I have you in my arms."

"As do I."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Before they eat breakfast, Olivia texts Abby to tell her not to worry and that she'll be back in town the next day, even though she's only fifteen minutes away. Once they're done eating, Fitz finds some clothes for Olivia to wear—a T-shirt and a pair of his boxers that don't fit anymore that he keeps forgetting to get rid of—and then they both take showers, Fitz letting her go first. He gives her an unused toothbrush out of a pack of three that he bought—something else he had also planned for her, along with the couch. She and Fitz spend the day together cooped up inside, doing everything he said they would, not for a second getting bored.

In the early evening, Fitz and Olivia chill on the couch, watching TV, and decide to order pizza, something Olivia proposes since Fitz's cooking skills could use a little work but she doesn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that she stuffed half of the food into napkins and only ate the bacon he made, which was also a bit too crispy—it's the thought that counts, anyways. They sit opposite of each other, with Olivia's legs crossed over Fitz's lap as he gently runs his hand along her calf. They watch TMZ for a little while and then Olivia starts flipping through channels again, stuffing the Cheeto puffs they were sharing earlier into her mouth because she's too hungry to wait for the pizza. She continues to go through the channels until Maury comes up and she stops, asking Fitz if he's seen it before and he says it looks familiar. She explains the concept of the show and says she knows it's crazy but so funny and ridiculous sometimes. He watches a little and then shakes his head, suppressing a smile, and takes out his phone to order the pizza. Olivia puts the volume down as some frantic woman starts screaming and running backstage on the show as Fitz answers the pizza guy.

He turns to her and asks, "What kind of pizza do you want, Livvie?"

"Mmm, pepperoni's fine."

He nods and says back to the guy, "I'll get a large pepperoni."

"Oh, and some boneless chicken wings and cheese bread," Olivia adds.

"Chicken wings?" Fitz asks, cocking his head.

"Yes, and make them hot and sexy just like you," she says, with a wink.

He smiles and then says into the phone, "I'll also get some chicken wings."

The pizza guy on the line then asks, "Do you want them mild, medium, or hot?"

Fitz is about to answer normally but decides at the last minute to have a little fun with it. He smirks deviously at Olivia and changes his voice to a flirtatious tone, slowly saying, "Hot and sexy, please."

Olivia nearly spits out a Cheeto puff and covers her mouth, trying not to laugh out loud. Fitz presses his lips tightly together, attempting to do the same.

"Um, sir—uh…" The pizza guy stammers and then quickly recovers, clearing his throat, but his voice is about an octave higher as he asks, "Okay. Will that be it?"

"_Mmhmm_…" Fitz says back, making his voice extra low. Olivia brings her hands to her face, letting out quiet giggles.

"Okay…your pizza should arrive within the next twenty minutes. Have a good day, sir." And before Fitz can even say anything back, he sees that the guy has hung up on him. He and Olivia burst into laughter, with them gulping like seals for air and tears of joy streaming down their faces.

"You're horrible," she says, hitting him with a pillow.

He gives her a knowing look. "Like you didn't love it."

"I didn't love my boyfriend flirting with someone else, even if it was part of a joke with the pizza guy." she pouts, feigning jealousy.

"Well, I'd be happy to make it up to you," he says, inching towards her on the couch and pulling her into his lap.

"Please do." And with that, their lips clash together, leading to a series of make-out sessions that end with the doorbell ringing twenty minutes later. Fitz reluctantly leaves Olivia on the couch and goes to answer the door, forgetting that he's still shirtless from when he took his off while he and Olivia were kissing.

He opens the door and sees a scrawny, geeky-looking guy staring back at him with horrified look on his face. He quickly hands the box of pizza over to Fitz, being careful not to make hand contact and says nervously, "That'll be fifteen dollars and ninety-nine cents." Fitz wonders what the problem is but as soon as he recognizes the guy's voice and notices that he's not wearing a shirt, he puts two and two together and decides to continue with the charade from earlier.

Fitz gives the guy a charming, teeth-filled smile and reaches down in his front pockets to get his wallet that he knows isn't with him. When he doesn't 'find' it there, he dramatically slaps his hands to his back pockets, earning a flinch out of the guy. "Hmm, nope, not there. I'll be right back, just wait right here, honey," Fitz tells him sweetly, and then turns, adding a spring in his step.

He comes back with a twenty and tells the guy to hold out his hand. He hesitates at first but sighs, just wanting to get out of there and holds his hand out, open-palmed. Fitz places the twenty in his hand but lingers there for a moment, slowly sliding his fingers across the guy's palm. "Keep the change," Fitz says, cocking his head to the side and looking at the man similarly to the way he looks at Olivia, but with fake lust.

The guy looks as if he's about to barf and quickly runs off towards the elevators. "Have a nice day!" Fitz yells in his normal voice. He goes back inside and sees that Olivia has found an interesting movie. He brings the pizza over to the couch and they both dig in.

Once the movie finishes around 9:30, Olivia and Fitz grab two jackets and decide to go out on the balcony, where they can hear music playing from far away. They look down to the beach and see a crowd congregating around a band playing, and the two just stand there, Fitz behind Olivia with a hand on both sides of her, resting on the railing as she leans back into him and they quietly look out at the sky and lights of the city below. After a while of this, they take a seat in one of the lounge chairs and look up at the stars, talking for a little while and then falling back into a comfortable silence. Fitz tries not to think about how their special time together is almost over and how lonely and sad he'll be when he takes her back to the university and is all alone again in his apartment. It had been the only apartment he really liked that was available to be moved in at such a sudden notice when he had started looking about a month ago and even though it was small, he had known that it would be perfect for two college kids like them as a nice hang-out and occasional sleeping place. He would try as much as possible to keep Mellie away from there, and because it was his and Olivia's home now in his eyes, he couldn't wait to give her his fourth surprise in the morning.

Fitz sees that Olivia has fallen asleep, so he gently slides them off of the chair and carries her back into the house. He starts to take her to the couch since they slept there the night before, but as if she senses where they're going, Olivia whispers, "Fitz, take me to your bed."

"Are you sure?" Fitz checks, still wary of coming on too strong.

But she subtly nods her head and tells him, "Yes. I think it'll be a little more comfortable, not that I didn't enjoy the couch with you, though."

He walks into his bedroom, which he showed her earlier and is where she came to use the shower in his bathroom, and sets her on the side closest to the window, using the moonlight for guidance so that he doesn't trip. He goes to the bathroom to change out of his jeans into his basketball shorts from earlier and goes to his side of the bed and gets in, pulling the comforter over them. But Olivia senses their distance and reaches toward him until they make contact. She then pulls him to her and lays in a fetal position, facing in towards his chest. Fitz in return hesitantly puts an arm around her but continues to pull her closer as the familiar and fitting feeling comes back to him. He smiles into her hair and whispers, "I love you."

He thought she had already fallen back asleep and didn't expect to hear anything out of her, but after a few minutes he catches her mumble, "I love you, too." This is the first time she's said it but it didn't bother him that she hadn't before since he figured it was a hard thing for her to say to most people, especially in the relationship they have right now. He kisses her forehead and then drifts off to sleep.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next morning Olivia is as miserable as ever that she has to go back to the university and considers just forgetting her schoolwork and staying the day with Fitz again, but she knows she can't, which is why she tries to put on at least a neutral face because she doesn't want Fitz seeing her so down and convincing her to stay. She dresses back in her clothes from Friday, which she washed the day before, they have some cereal, and then get ready to head out. Olivia takes one more look at the apartment that she's come to love in just one day and struggles to hold her tears in. _Why the heck am I crying? It's not like I won't come back here soon_, she chastises herself.

"Liv?" Fitz says, coming from his bedroom with his keys in hand. "Before we go I just wanted to let you know how awesome this weekend has been with you here and how much I'm going to miss you until we see each other again. I really want us to be able to hang around here as much as possible and feel comfortable without having to worry about being seen or found out and for you to feel welcomed here, so…here's your key." He hands her a key identical to the one for the house on his ring. "Your key to the apartment. What's mine is yours, Liv, you can come here anytime you want, even if I'm not here. I haven't given one to Mellie and I don't plan on doing it or letting her come over for a while. And I know that this whole Mellie-situation is so crappy to you but as soon as we're together in the open, I'm going to spend the rest of my days making it up to you—"

She snatches the key from his hand and attacks him in a hug, no longer able to hold back her tears, which are now joy-filled. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

He smiles back at her, matching her excitement. "You don't know how happy you accepting it makes me. I was so upset that you have to leave today but now that you have a key, we can do this as often as you like."

She smiles up at him, nodding and wiping her tears away. "Thank you," she says again. "We should probably get going now, though, before Abby starts to worry again." It's now almost eleven and Olivia told Abby she'd be back around 9. Fitz reluctantly nods in agreement and they head out together.

**Well, I hope you liked that chapter. Lots happened. Did you like Olitz's first real date? Do you think their plan to deal with Mellie and Big Jerry will work? How will they take care of her father? Did you enjoy the 'hot and sexy' scene ; ) ? How did you like Fitz giving Liv a key to the apartment? How do you feel about Olitz's relationship in general? Other thoughts? So many questions! But give me your thoughts. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Meet the Family (Part 1)

**This chapter was a lot harder for me to write which is why it took so long because I can be a little overcritical of myself and I didn't like the material at first, but I found it within me to get it done. I was also thinking of another Fanfic idea so we'll see where I go with that too. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 8: Meet the Family (Part 1)**

After Fitz drops Olivia off at the campus, she gets her car and drives it back to her dorm's parking lot. She knows that Abby will most likely remember her clothes from Friday and question her about why she's wearing them now, so she looks in her backseat, hoping that there's a stray jacket and she finds one that she hasn't worn in a while. She switches it out with her cardigan and zips up, so that her pink shirt doesn't show. She goes to her room and finds that Abby isn't there but she left a blueberry muffin and a note behind—_be back later, try the muffin—they're delish!_

Olivia exhales and takes a seat on her bed, eating the muffin. Before Abby comes back, she decides to make a call to Nathan to tell him about her new situation that he's kind of involved in and also just because it's part of their usual routine to call him every Sunday and occasionally on Wednesdays to see how he's doing.

The phone rings three times before he answers, "Hey, Liv."

"Hey, Nathan, I know I usually call you a little later, but I wanted to talk to you now because I need a favor?"

"Like what?"

"I need you to be my alibi because I just started seeing Fitz and I spent the weekend at his place, but I told Abby that I went to see you this weekend to take you to some fair, so if anyone asks can you just affirm that?"

"Yeah, I guess, but you started seeing him? What happened to being careful, Liv? If Dad finds out he's going to kill you."

"That's why he's not going to find out, at least not for a while. Fitz and I are trying to come up with a plan to deal with him, but until then we'll be dating in secret. I also plan to see Fitz a lot more after this weekend so if you could also be my alibi for those times as well that'd be great."

She hears him sigh on the other end. "You're still going to see him even if I say no, aren't you?"

"Yes, but it'd be easier with your help. Got any ideas?"

He sighs again and Olivia feels slightly guilty for involving him in this but continues to wait for him to answer. "For the next two weekends, I have some away games that Mom will be taking me to, but you could tell Abby and whoever was to ask that you're taking me to these games instead and that you have to stay overnight because the games are so far away. Does that work?"

"That's perfect—and thanks for doing this."

"I'm only doing it because of the many times you've covered for me. If Dad ever asks anything I can also take care of that."

"Thanks, little bro. I'll try to be careful and not screw this up," Olivia assures him. "So, what's up on your end?" They continue to talk for about ten minutes more about school, friends, and stuff at home and then say goodbye to each other.

Over the next two weeks, using the alibi that Nathan came up with, Olivia and Fitz are able to spend a lot of time together, especially since she's sleeping over on weekends and sometimes they hang out there for a couple of hours during the week. Olivia has also made sure to bring over some clothes for the weekend and homework to do, which almost never got done because she and Fitz would end up messing around.

But one day she comes by the apartment with lunch for the both of them and she gets a text from Fitz, telling her to stay in her car and park farther away than usual. Olivia is automatically worried, thinking that maybe Fitz is in trouble and starts to texting him back, asking if he's okay, but as soon as she pulls into the parking lot of the apartment complex, she knows why she got the warning text, and her heart drops into her stomach. She parks far enough away that she won't be seen but close enough that she can still see Fitz and Mellie in front of the apartment building, talking and smiling with each other. After about a minute of looking at them, Olivia leans back in her seat and stares up at the car ceiling, trying to control her emotions. After about five more minutes, she looks back and sees Mellie peck Fitz on the lips then get in her car and drive off. The second Mellie's gone, Olivia can see Fitz looking around frantically for her car, with an anxious expression on his face and though, she's pissed off at him, she can feel her anger slowly dissipating as she begins to justify what happened which makes her feel ridiculous and helpless about how someone can have such a hold on her but she can't help it. Her phone goes off as Fitz calls and she restarts her car and then drives to where he's standing. She slowly gets out of the car, avoiding eye contact with him.

He starts to move towards her but stops, knowing she doesn't want him to touch her right then. "Liv, she just wanted to see where I lived so I gave her the address but I didn't know she'd just show up. This is the first time she's been here and I didn't even let her inside—I swear."

Olivia still refuses to look at him so Fitz continues to tell her, "She won't be coming back for a while because I told her I was still modeling the place and it was a mess so it wasn't ready for her to go in. It's okay, Liv."

"Is it?" She shoots back quietly, finally looking at him with critical eyes, but she softens. "I just…I didn't expect it to be this soon—I mean, I didn't know how long it'd be before she started _having_ to come over but—"

"She still doesn't need to come over, Liv, not for a while…I'm sorry, and I promise that she won't be showing up randomly like that again."

She sighs and then goes back into her car to grab their lunch. "Let's just go inside and eat, okay?"

Fitz nods dejectedly but heads towards the elevator with her.

Once they're inside and eating, they sit there quietly for a while before Olivia decides to break the silence. "I wanted to ask you, if you're not doing anything with your family since I know it's just you and your dad and you said that he doesn't like celebrating the holidays, maybe you could come and celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my Mom's family in Sacramento? If you're doing something with your father this year, it's totally fine, but I thought I'd ask just in case you weren't."

"I'd love to join you guys. My father won't even be in California around Thanksgiving because of some annual business trip. I mean, he could make it back in time, but ever since my mom died he hasn't really tried."

"So, you haven't celebrated Thanksgiving with anyone since then?" Olivia asks incredulously.

Fitz shrugs, giving her an uneasy smile. "No, not really."

Olivia's heart almost breaks at this and any anger she feels towards him about earlier is now gone. "Well, then, you're coming with me. We'll spend Thanksgiving together."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

On the Wednesday that they get out of school, Olivia packs a suitcase from her dorm and then goes to Fitz's apartment, where they spend the night together. The next day, Thanksgiving, they lock up the apartment and head out for Sacramento around noon.

During the hour and a half drive, Olivia and Fitz begin to discuss how to explain him to her family.

"So, I already told my Mom that I was bringing someone else along but she didn't ask about it too much since we usually have a lot of people staying with us, so when we get there I'll just say you're a close friend and I brought you along because I didn't want you to be alone for the holiday. It's pretty much the truth," she tells him.

Fitz, who's actually in the passenger's seat, turns to her, cocking an eyebrow. "It's pretty much the truth except that we are much more than close friends. We've been dating—"

"Sort of dating," she corrects him.

He sighs. "Sort of dating, for almost a month now, and it really bothers me that I can't tell _anyone_ that I'm your boyfriend and vice versa. I know we're trying to be careful until the end of the school year but I'd really like it if we didn't have to lie to your own family about us. I want to be able to show how much I love you to someone, especially them."

"Fitz, I don't know…I mean, I guess none of them would tell my father since they all cut off contact with him as soon as my Mom divorced him."

"And I doubt they'd find out about Mellie. Please, Olivia, introduce me as your boyfriend."

She remains quiet for several seconds more, still deliberating, and then says, "Fine," cracking a small smile at him because she is also really happy to finally be able to tell someone about her and Fitz, but she warns him, "But just so you know, my Mom's family can be a little overcritical when it comes to new people, especially after seeing the effects of the number my Dad did on my Mom when she left him, they're all very protective over her and my brother and I, which means they'll have a lot of questions for you, but I'll try to shield you as much as possible."

"It's fine, Liv, I'll answer any of their questions as truthfully as I can. I want them to like and trust me since I'm in this with you for the long run."

Olivia nods and begins to tell him more about her immediate family. She starts with her mom, Maya, who she describes as sweet and fun but a firm woman and says that Maya will most likely be cynical of Fitz at first because she'll doubt that Eli has approved of him and she probably knows of the Grants so she'll also doubt that Big Jerry has approved of her daughter, but Olivia assures Fitz that she doesn't think Maya will treat him badly because of that. She also adds that Maya is three months pregnant. Chris, Maya's husband and a retired pro-baseball player, is very laid back and will likely be fine with Fitz. Chris is fond of barbeques, baseball, football, and cars— all of which Fitz says he likes as well so Olivia thinks that Chris will love him. And then there's Emma or Emmy, as everyone calls her, Chris's ten year old daughter, who has a bubbly personality, loves meeting new people, and will talk your ear off if you let her, but she's a sweet and smart kid. Olivia also warns Fitz that once he shows Emmy that he's friendly, she might start getting a little clingy, so Olivia tells him that she'll try to stop her when that happens. She has told Fitz a little about Nathan before, who will also be there, but she mentions that Nathan already knows about her and Fitz and the whole thing with Mellie but he won't say anything. Olivia tells him that Nathan might be a little apprehensive towards Fitz just because of what he knows but she doesn't think he'll be overly rude. She also reveals that Isaiah won't be present because he'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with Sarah's family. Olivia moves on to mention the rest of the family that will be coming—her mom's mom and dad, who Olivia warns is the most protective of them all, her mom's sister and husband and their teenage twin sons—Jordan and Justin—who will likely give Fitz trouble because they're the rascals of the family. And on Chris's side, his mom, his sister, his brother and his wife with their four year old son and two year old daughter. Fitz asks about Eli, feeling slightly bad for him because he'll be alone, but Olivia tells him not to feel the slightest bit bad, since Eli was never into celebrating the holidays and barely did anything for her and her brothers during holidays.

"Wow, that will be a full house, but it should be fun and I'm up to the challenge to make your family love me," he says to her with a confident smile.

Olivia grins back and tells him, "Just charm them like you did with me, and you'll be just fine."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Around 1:30, they arrive at the house, which Fitz sees is pretty big and suburban but not mansion-big, which makes him feel kind of intrigued that he will finally get a sense of what a normal family really feels like. As soon as Olivia pulls into the wide driveway, Fitz sees a little girl, with strawberry blonde hair up in pigtails and freckly skin, running towards the car, barefoot. Olivia gets out and immediately the little girl attacks her in a hug, squealing, "Liv!"

Olivia stumbles slightly at the impact and hugs her back, greeting with almost as much enthusiasm, "Emmy! How are you?"

"Good," she replies, stepping back and looking towards Fitz, who's tentatively inching out of the car. "Who's that?" Emmy asks, but before Olivia can answer, Emmy turns back towards the house and yells, "Mom, Dad, Olivia is here! And she has a friend!"

A few seconds later, a woman, who Fitz can only assume is Olivia's mother strides out of the house, and Fitz knows immediately where Olivia gets her looks from because not only do the mother and daughter look very alike but they also share the beauty. Maya smiles at Olivia and Fitz can see that their smiles are also similar. As she makes her way closer to them, Fitz also sees the belly bump, and wonders how old Maya is because she looks somewhere in her early thirties but must be at least mid-forties since Olivia's eldest brother is already 26. Fitz watches a man, with the same strawberry blonde hair as Emmy, emerge from the house as Maya takes Olivia in her arms, squeezing her tightly.

"Oh, I've missed you so much," Maya cries, then pulls away, resting her hand on Olivia's arm, asking, "How's my baby girl?"

"I'm good, Mom," Olivia says, smiling back. Maya steps aside as the strawberry blonde-haired man walks up to Olivia, scooping her up in his embrace. "Hey, Olivia, how are you?"

"I'm doing good. Thanks, Chris." Both Maya and Chris's gazes shift over to Fitz and he sees that they're deciding what to make of him, as a tall, teenage boy who looks a lot like Olivia and her mom, comes out of the house and embraces Olivia.

Once all the hugging is done, the whole family turns over to Fitz and Olivia takes this as her cue to introduce him. "Everyone, this is Fitz, my boyfriend. Fitz…" She walks over to him, putting her arm around his waist, and Fitz in return does the same but starts to regret it when he sees Maya staring him down. "This is my mom, Chris, Emmy, and Nathan, all who I've already told you about," Olivia tells him, gesturing to each family member. Fitz smiles charmingly at them even though he's starting to freak out inside. He goes to Maya, Chris, and Nathan and shakes their hands. He's about to go back to stand next to Olivia when Emmy calls out, "How about me?"

Fitz looks down at her and sees her pouting up at him. He smiles apologetically at her and says, "Oh, yes, sorry, Emmy, I didn't mean to skip over you like that." Fitz sticks out his to her and she gladly takes it with a pretty firm grip for a ten year-old, saying, "That's okay."

"I invited Fitz over to spend the holiday with us because his family is busy this year. I didn't think it'd be much of a problem to add one more person," Olivia says, looking to her Mom and Chris for confirmation.

Maya smiles back at her daughter and Fitz, saying, "No, it's not a problem at all. Though, I thought you were bringing over a _female_ friend when you asked, but it's okay, we can still make room." She gestures for them to follow her into the house. Fitz goes back to the car to get his and Olivia's bags and with Nathan's help, they carry the suitcases into the house.

As soon as they step inside, Fitz's nose is hit with the smell of delicious food cooking. They all continue to the kitchen, where the aroma is coming from and Fitz can feel his mouth watering at the scent of the homemade food. Fitz is snapped back into reality when Maya says to him and Olivia, "Since we have one more addition to the family this year, Liv, you'll have to bunk with Emmy for tonight and tomorrow. And Fitz, you'll share a room with Nathan. You guys can go take your stuff there now if you want. Family should be arriving by 2pm."

Olivia and Fitz both nod at this and the next second, Emmy is grabbing Olivia's hand and whisking her off presumably towards her room, saying to Olivia, "I can't wait to show you my room. I had it remodeled this summer, you're going to love it!"

Fitz is left alone with the rest of the family and can feel himself getting more nervous by the second. "Um, this way," Nathan says to him, starting towards the hallway that Olivia and Emmy took. Fitz grabs his suitcase off the floor and follows Nathan. They head upstairs and go the opposite direction of where Emmy's voice is coming from once they're at the top. Nathan leads Fitz into a medium-sized bedroom with two twin beds, a computer at a small desk, a refrigerator, a microwave, and a flat screen TV.

"This is my bed," Nathan says, motioning towards the twin bed farthest from the only window in the room that gives a perfect view of the backyard and then pointing towards the one right under the window. "That's yours."

Fitz nods, giving him a small smile. Fitz puts his suitcase by the bed and then kind of just stands there, not knowing what else to say or do. After a little more of an awkward silence, Nathan tells Fitz, "If you're done, we can go back downstairs."

"Oh, yeah, I'm done," Fitz says coyly. Nathan leads the way back to the stairs and as they go down, Fitz can still hear Emmy's voice babbling away to Olivia, which he smiles at. He and Nathan go back to the kitchen, where Maya is putting one of her food dishes into the oven, and they aren't even down there for ten seconds before Maya says to her son, "Nathan, Chris was asking for you earlier. I think he needed help with something in the garage."

Nathan nods, leaving the room, and Fitz can again feel his heart rate rising from anxiety. He was supposed to be charming Olivia's family and trying to be someone that they could like and trust but right now he was just acting like a nervous wreck. He stands there, staring at Maya until she finally stops what she was doing and stares back at him with a wayward smile on her face. "Are you okay, Fitz?"

Fitz nods vigorously, as if it'll shake him out of his trance-like state and then asks her politely, "Can I help you with anything, Mrs.…?"

"It's Mrs. Sanders now, but you can just call me Maya. And yes, I could use some help with just tidying up a bit. Maybe if you could sweep the kitchen, that would be nice. There's a broom in that closet over there." She gestures towards a door in the room. Fitz gets the broom and starts sweeping in silence.

"So, Fitz, I've been waiting to meet you for a while now. I knew Big Jerry had a son but I had no idea he was all grown up…or that he was dating my daughter," Maya says while rinsing some plates off in the sink. "Olivia can be so secretive sometimes." Fitz can't help but wonder how almost every new adult he meets knows his father and already has a little bit of a history on himself.

"Oh, yeah, well, we've only been dating for about a month but we met at the beginning of the school year," Fitz says nervously.

Maya nods. "Well, even if it's only been a month, you're the only guy she's brought home, I mean, she doesn't visit very often, but she was never really into discussing any of her special someones either. So the fact that she even brought you here to stay for the next three days tells me that she really likes you." She smiles hearteningly at him.

"Well, I really like her, too. She's the first girl I've felt serious about in a long time."

"And exactly how many girls have you been with, Fitz?" Maya asks, putting a hand on her waist, cocking her head critically at him, waiting for him to answer.

Fitz stops sweeping and looks back at her, his heart now beating out of his chest. _What a stupid thing to say_, he thinks to himself, _now she thinks I'm a player_. He continues to stare at her with his mouth hanging open as he stutters, "I—I didn't mean—"

Maya softens as her lips curl into a smile. "It's okay, Fitz, I was kidding. I don't think that you're a player and I can see that you care for my daughter very much, since you've had that deer-in-the-headlights look on your face since you got here. And you don't seem like a bad guy at all."

Fitz exhales as all the color slowly returns to his face and he chuckles, still uneasy, but he's glad to see that she doesn't hate him. "Oh, thanks," he says, smiling back at her.

"Don't be so nervous. You'll do great tonight," she tells him, referring to him meeting the rest of the family. He nods back and Olivia and Emmy come into the room. Olivia goes over to him, putting her arms around his neck and gives him a soft kiss on the lips, instantly calming him down. He wants to deepen the kiss but knows it'd be inappropriate, especially with her ten year-old sister and her mom standing right there.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asks, and Fitz can see she's a little worried about what may have happened while she was upstairs. But all Fitz does is smile genuinely back at her and say, "I'm fine, Liv."

She takes this answer and puts her arm around his waist, leaning into him. Maya glances at the two of them with a fake disapproving look and says, "Okay, lovebirds, why don't you guys get changed before everyone arrives? You too, Emmy, and go tell Nathan also, as soon as he's done helping your dad."

Emmy nods okay and then runs out of the room, towards the garage. Maya chuckles at this and turns to Olivia and Fitz. "This is when they still do what you say with enthusiasm, but as soon as they hit thirteen, there's always a groan that comes with every instruction. You remember those days, right, Liv?"

Olivia rolls her eyes, but says, "Of, course I do, Mom. Those were the good old days." Fitz can tell there's a hint of sarcasm there, so those days probably weren't so great.

Maya catches the double meaning but disregards it, telling them, "Alright, go get changed." Olivia gives her a mocking groan as she and Fitz walk out of the room.

"I heard that," Maya yells after them.

"You were supposed to," Olivia yells back. Fitz smiles at their interaction and it reminds him of how close he used to be to his mom, making him wish that she was there with him now. Olivia sees the sad look on his face as they start towards the stairs and takes hold of his hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I was just—I was just reminded of my mom for a second. It's nothing," he tells her, shaking his head.

"Fitz, I know that you miss her and that Thanksgiving reminds you of her, especially since she passed away around this time, but I hope you know that I'm always here for you. I'm not going anywhere and I'll always be here when you need me."

Fitz smiles at her and pulls her to him, laying a lingering kiss on her forehead. "I know. I love you."

She hugs him back and says, "I love you, too."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

They go upstairs and change into the more formal clothes that they brought with them and then come back downstairs. Olivia is dressed in a semi-formal black dress that goes up to her knees and her hair is done up in a bun with some of strands of it running decoratively down the sides of her face. Fitz is already downstairs by time she's done and is dressed in khaki pants and a sweater vest that she convinced him to bring along because she wanted to see how he'd look in it and her assumption that he'd look good was correct. She beats him to the punch by complimenting him, "Someone's looking like a sexy nerd…or maybe just one of those hot, rich bad boys in boarding school."

He raises his eyebrows in that adorable way he does whenever she says something that remotely surprises him. "Hmm, well, I may be hot and rich but I don't think I'm all that bad," he teases back, as she walks up to him.

"You look lovely, Liv," he says, kissing her on the lips. Olivia marvels at how one person can give her just a simple compliment and make her feel like the most important person in the world.

She blushes and smiles at him as their lips part. "Thank you."

Around 3:30, family members start to flood the house and Olivia can again sense Fitz becoming nervous again as she smiles and greets everyone coming through the door. Olivia introduces Fitz to everyone and gets pretty friendly reactions, mostly from Chris's family, her aunt's family, and her grandma, but her Grandpa Joe seems a little wary of him just from one look. The last of the family to come is her mom's sister, Gloria, her husband, Keith, and their 16 year-old male twins, Justin and Jordan, who each give Olivia goofy grins as they start to walk over to her. She takes notice of how tall the two rascals have gotten, now towering over her, and it amazes her how they continue to grow each year.

"Hey, Liv," they say at the same time as first Jordan and then Justin both embrace her in bear hugs.

"Hey, guys," Olivia greets back cautiously, a little worried that they might tease and scare Fitz away. But they seem to just ignore him as Justin tells her, "Wow, Liv, you haven't changed at all since last year."

"Yeah," Jordan chimes in. "You're still a little midget." And they both laugh together.

Olivia rolls her eyes at them, saying sardonically, "Yeah…you two still know how to make a girl feel special."

They shrug and move onto greet other family members, but not without giving mischievous grins to Fitz, who Olivia now knows they're planning to deal with later.

At 4:30, the family gathers around the table once the food is all laid out. Fitz pulls Olivia's chair out for her, like a gentleman, and then goes over to her other side to do the same for Emmy. Fitz glances over at her Grandpa and smiles but gets an indifferent look in return. Everyone takes their seats at the table, Fitz nervously sitting down next to Olivia and then looking at her with those scared eyes of his that she rarely ever sees. She takes his hand in hers under the table and smiles reassuringly at him. After saying grace, they all dig into the food but not even a few minutes go by before Fitz starts getting questions.

"So, how long have you and my granddaughter been seeing each other, _Fitz_? That is your name, right?" Grandpa Joe questions, being the first person to start the interrogation Olivia knew was coming.

Fitz quickly chews and swallows the turkey in his mouth, rushing to answer like his life depends on it. "Uh, yeah, yes, it's short for Fitzgerald—sir. And Liv and I have been seeing each other for…about a month."

Grandpa Joe nods like this is an acceptable answer and then reaches for his glass of water. Olivia's Grandma Stella smiles sweetly at him and asks, "Where did you guys meet?"

Fitz starts telling them the story that he and Olivia came up with, or rather revised, when they were driving on their way there. "Um, it was at the beginning of the school year, at Berkeley, where we're both attending, as you already know about Liv…" Olivia squeezes his hand to encourage him. "It was at a party that we had gone to with some friends and the party had gotten a little crazy so we decided to step out to somewhere that was more quiet and then we started talking and we just hit off. It took me some time to get her to go out with me but I was able to charm her into it eventually." He gives her a teeth-filled smile and she returns the gesture. This gets a few 'aww's from around the table.

Grandpa Joe sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Charm her? And how did you do that?" He asks, completely serious.

Olivia sees Fitz confidence that was just starting to come out crawl back into the crevice it had been in. "Oh, well, I, um—"

"He was very persistent," Olivia cuts in, trying to help him out.

"Why?" Justin snorts, and Jordan barely holds in a snicker. Olivia glares at them but Gloria turns to them, giving them a look that could kill, making them shut up.

"Well, I, uh, I felt the instant connection that we had and I couldn't just let that go so I kind of badgered her about it for two months until she agreed to it—I mean, it wasn't like I was stalking or harassing her or anything, I just asked for a date." Some people laugh at this.

Chris's sister, Victoria, leans forward and smiles, asking, "So, where'd you take her on this first date you wanted so badly?"

"It was at a drive-in movie—and I loved it since it was simple. I'm not the biggest fan of candle-lit dinners," Olivia tells them, since she knows everyone was expecting him to do something like that.

Grandpa Joe continues with the questions, getting an annoyed look from Maya, but he disregards it. "So, Fitz, do you have your own place or do you also live in a dorm?"

Fitz is once again forced to scarf down his food and answer. "I have my own place, just an apartment not too far from the university."

Grandpa Joe nods at this and asks seemingly innocent, "Have you been there, Olivia?"

"Um, yes, a few times, just to hang out," She responds plainly. She knows he's trying to find out whether or not she and Fitz are sleeping together, but there's no way in hell she's letting up about that, even if nothing is really going on.

"And what does that mean?" He questions back, squinting his eyes.

"Dad," Maya warns. "It means they were hanging out—that's all it means."

He huffs in disagreement but decides to leave it alone and move on, "Are you also planning on becoming a lawyer, Fitz?"

"Ah, yes, I'm currently in my last year of law school," Fitz replies with a timid smile.

"Oh, really? That's great," Chris's mom, Barbara, says.

Before Fitz can say anything more, Grandpa Joe cocks his head in confusion, asking, "Last year of law school? How old are you?"

Fitz says back, "Twenty-five."

"Hmm, a seven-year age difference…" Grandpa Joe mumbles. Olivia cuts him a look and he shrugs helplessly at her. Olivia had never really thought about or considered their age difference. It's not like it was extremely huge, like twelve or fifteen years, and she was eighteen now so she could legally be with whomever she wanted. But none of that mattered because whenever she looked at Fitz she didn't see someone with twenty-five years on him, all she saw was the sweet, charming, caring man that she's come to know and love.

"So, do you have any idea where you want to go with that? Being a lawyer?" Chris asks, trying to air the room from the awkwardness floating around in it.

Fitz is quick to follow his lead. "Yes, I'd really love to become a prosecuting attorney, like Livvie, but—"

Justin and Jordan snicker and mock together, "_Aww, Livvie_…"

"Boys…" Keith warns.

Fitz continues, "But, um, my father wants me to go into corporate law since it's more of a family tradition."

"And what about your family?" Grandpa Joe asks, "Why aren't you with them today?"

Olivia gives him another death glare, fearing that Fitz isn't in the mindset to answer the personal question. She's about to tell him that he doesn't have to answer but she's too late.

"Well, it's just me and my father now since my mom passed away three years ago from a brain tumor, but, um, my father's always working so this is the first Thanksgiving I've had since she died." Olivia squeezes his hand again under the table and he squeezes back. He gets heartbroken looks from the rest of the family, including the twins who glance away awkwardly and Grandpa Joe who seems like he's starting to feel bad for hounding Fitz.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, Fitz. Forgive me for bringing up such a personal topic," Grandpa Joe says, giving him a sincere apologetic look.

Fitz shakes his head. "It's fine, really. I can understand you all wanting to know as much about me as possible since I'm dating Liv and you want the best for her. And I know that we've only been going out for a month but I'm really serious about her and I'm willing to do everything in my power to keep her happy and make this relationship work."

Grandpa Joe nods. "Well, it's very nice to hear that, Fitz, and I do hope this relationship goes well for you both—or there will be hell to pay." Some of them chuckle but they all laugh at Fitz's uneasy smile as he's trying to decide whether or not to join in.

"Son, we're just fooling around. You seem like smart, accomplished young fellow and I have no doubt that you and Olivia will work out just fine."

"Thank you, sir, that means a lot coming from you." Fitz smirks satisfactorily at Olivia and she smiles back.

After dinner, Nathan, Emmy, and the twins, go outside to play basketball while Fitz and Olivia stick around to talk with the adults, who've all migrated to the living room. Fitz joins into their conversations, now that Grandpa Joe isn't badgering him about himself, and Fitz slowly finds himself starting to gain some confidence back and eventually gets the whole family to love him now that he's being his charming self.

After about an hour, Olivia and Fitz decide to go outside to the backyard and get some fresh air. Olivia glances over at Fitz as they walk swing their hands together and she sees the cutest smile spread out across his face.

"You did really well back there, mister, I think they like you."

"I think they like me, too. I thought there was no hope for me when your grandpa kept staring me down with those…demon eyes and hounding me."

She laughs at him. "Demon eyes?"

"That's what it felt like. He's still apprehensive, I can tell, but I see that he at least likes me now."

They walk over to the small basketball court the kids are at, where Nathan is on the sidelines, taking a drink of water while Justin and Jordan play monkey in the middle with Emmy, who doesn't seem very happy about it.

"Just let me have the ball once, please!" Emmy cries out to them, leaping up and chasing them around.

"You can but you have to catch it first," Jordan says back smartly.

Olivia rolls her eyes. "Come on, guys, really? Come over here, Emmy." Emmy sighs in frustration, finally giving up and going to stand by Olivia and Fitz. Olivia expected her to be upset but she just looks downright annoyed.

"Justin and Jordan are being stupid jerks," she tells Olivia, pouting.

"I know. Maybe Fitz should knock some sense into them." She turns to him with a mischievous smile and he knows exactly what she wants him to do. He looks at her like she's crazy and says, "Liv, no…"

"Come on, it'd be fun. And besides, you still have yet to 'charm' them."

Emmy catches on to their conversation and chimes in, "Are you going to play basketball with them? Please do it, Fitz, they deserve to get their butts whooped by you."

He chuckles at this but Olivia can see he still thinking of a way to get out of it. Before she can ask him again, Emmy looks him square in the eyes, begging, "Please, Fitz, do it for me!"

Fitz stares back her, knowing he can't say no now. He puffs his cheeks up and let's out an elongated sigh. He looks down at her and says, "Alright, but this is only for you."

Olivia smiles triumphantly at him as he walks towards the court. "Try not to embarrass yourself," she calls out to him sarcastically. He in return sticks his tongue out at her playfully and she does the same.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz walks up to the three boys awkwardly, who are all involved in a very heated play until Justin, or was it Jordan, steals the ball from his brother and dunks, making Fitz's eyes go wide. Back in high school, Fitz had been on his school's varsity team, and he had no doubt that all these guys were also varsity, but that had been about eight years ago and he had only played here and there since then. And never had he dunked the ball before. These kids were going to murder him.

They finally see him standing there and give him strange looks. Fitz clears his throat. "Oh, hey, guys, um, I was wondering…if you'd be fine with me shooting some hoops with you? If not, it's completely fine," he tells them, already starting to back away. But two sly grins appear on the twins' faces and Justin says to him, "We'd be fine with it, but only if you're sure. These games get pretty intense and we wouldn't to be responsible for getting your nice, cute sweater vest all sweaty and gross."

They snicker together and Nathan just stares back at him with a slight smile. Fitz plays into their taunt, saying, "Yeah, you're right. I actually really like this sweater, my girlfriend says it looks nice on me." He looks back at Olivia flashing her a charming smile and then pulling the sweater vest off and throwing it on a nearby chair so that he just has on his dress shirt. "So, I'll just take it off."

The twins raise their eyebrows at him but let him play. The first game is a little of a free for all—whoever has the ball can shoot—but after five minutes of Fitz struggling against the younger boys, only getting three shots in, compared to their twenty or more each. Fitz is already pretty sweaty and out of breath as he sluggishly chases the boys down the court for the millionth time. Jordan makes another shot and then holds the ball under his arm at his waist and calls out to Fitz, mocking, "Hey, you alright there, Fitz? Are we going a little too fast for you?"

"No, I'm—I'm fine," Fitz says, waving it off and trying to breathe normally.

"How about you join me in a real play then? Just try and stop me from shooting," Jordan offers, dribbling the ball again and Fitz nods okay. He gets in between Jordan and the hoop and starts moving around defensively, but Jordan easily side-steps him, purposely tripping him, sending him to the ground and making the shot. The twins break out in laughter while Fitz lands on his butt and tries to hide the look of pain fighting its way to his face, as he sees Olivia walking towards them, chastising the twins, "Guys…"

Fitz quickly hops up on his feet and is back in a defensive position, now facing Justin who has the ball. "Naw, it's alright, I can take the heat," he tells her, determined to stay in this now that his natural male pride is kicking in. He wasn't going to get his butt kicked by two smart-ass teenage boys, no matter how good they were.

"You sure about that, pretty boy? You're looking kind of scorched already," Justin taunts as he dunks the ball again. Fitz glares at him.

"Be nice to Fitz, Justin, before he kicks your butt," Emmy yells from the sidelines.

Fitz smiles and turns to Justin. "You heard her."

"Fine, but how about we make it more interesting? Me and my brother against you and Nathan—first team to fifty points wins."

Fitz looks to Nathan for his approval and he nods. Justin gives Fitz a wicked smile, bouncing the ball to him, "Okay, show us what you've got."

The game starts out much like it's been for the past ten minutes with Fitz getting slaughtered by the twins and they actually end up knocking him down three more times. He notices that they let up a little on Nathan to the point where he can shoot and is actually the only one making points for their team, but as soon as Fitz has the ball they make things exceedingly harder for him. Fitz sighs taking a breath and tries to figure out what he did to deserve this humiliation. He and Nathan are down ten points and the twins are getting close to fifty but Fitz somehow finds it within himself to keep going and he and Nathan get into a dynamic rhythm and end up catching up to the twins. They barely win by a point when Nathan makes a three-pointer, ending the game. Emmy comes running onto the court, yelling, "Fitz and Nathan win!" She gives them both high fives and beams at Fitz, saying, "Thank you for doing this, Fitz! I told you you would kick their butts."

"You're welcome and thanks, Emmy." He smiles at her and Olivia as she pecks his cheek. He then looks back at the twins who have wiped any indication of smugness before from their faces.

"What? No more smart comments?" Fitz asks them.

"Besides you leaning over on one leg like an old man, no, there's nothing for us to say," Jordan snickers to him and Justin smiles slyly.

Fitz nods, accepting this and asks Olivia if they can go back inside so he can get something to drink. As they walk back to the house, Fitz tries his best not to wobble but even Olivia can see that he's having trouble and tries to help him, garnering more laughs out of the twins behind them. They all walk into the kitchen where Maya and her sister are washing plates and the boys all grab some cups of water, Fitz going through two in one minute. Maya asks what happened to Fitz and Emmy is quick to come to his defense, saying he and Nathan beat the two brothers in basketball. Gloria tells her sons to go upstairs and change and Fitz opts to do the same, telling Olivia he'll be right back. He changes out of his sweaty dress shirt and puts on a long-sleeved polo then goes back downstairs.

He and Olivia stay for a while longer, helping Maya and Gloria clean up the kitchen and then decide to go back outside. They wander around the backyard together until they come across a hammock hanging from a tree. They give each other a look and know that they both want to lay down in it. Fitz gets in first and then slowly slides Olivia in next to him. Once they're sure the hammock isn't going to break down, they relax, Olivia snuggling into Fitz and laying her head on his chest. He wraps his arms tightly around her, pulling her onto him, and buries his nose into her hair, which always seems to get a giggle out of her.

"When did I become your teddy bear?"

"When I started loving to do this," he says, plunging into her hair again and then caressing the back of her neck.

"You're lucky you're cute and that I'm hopelessly in love with you," she teases.

"And I guess that makes me special, too, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"So special that you chose me over all your boyfriends before to bring home to your parents."

"Who told that?" She asks, shifting her body so she can look up at him with an analytical expression.

He shrugs. "Your mom."

She smirks. "So, I guess you guys did actually discuss something yesterday."

"Kind of. She was just surprised that you brought me here because she said you were really secretive about your love life…if I'm getting too personal I'll stop talking about it," he tells her, seeing the serious look on her face.

"No, it's okay, it's really not all that personal. The main reason I was never that open to my family about any other boyfriend is because of my Dad mainly since he's such a frigid prude, that and I also just wasn't too serious about them, not as serious as I am about you. And I've only had three but I really only in the least felt something with one."

"And who was this one?" He asks mockingly but is actually pretty curious.

"I met him my senior year, as he was the newest edition to the debate team. We started hanging out a lot and he eventually asked me out around February this year—wow, I can't believe that was just this year, things have changed so much since then—anyway, we dated until August when we spent the summer together in Europe and those three months showed me that he was just a needy jerk."

"Wait, you said you spent the summer with him, three months in Europe?" Fitz asks because the story sounds too familiar but then he remembers where he heard it from and a shocked expression comes over his face.

"Yeah. Why?"

"What was his name?"

"Jake. Why do you ask?"

"Jake…oh, wow." Fitz continues to look surprised but chuckles after a while. Olivia was the girl Jake had been talking about—the girl who had broken his heart and, from Jake's point of view, kept right on going with her life like it was no big deal. Fitz thinks back to how close he had been to spilling Olivia's name to the guys at the bar, including Jake, in his drunken state and can only imagine what kind of brawl would've erupted between him and Jake.

"Do you know him?"

Fitz nods. "Yeah, I did know him. He was one of my drinking buddies at Harvard—and he drank a lot, mostly because of you, _heartbreaker_," he says, winking at her.

Olivia rolls her eyes. "Like I said, he turned into a needy jerk and after we broke up I wanted nothing to do with him, but that didn't stop him from calling relentlessly."

"Does he still call you?" Fitz asks, becoming defensive.

"No, not anymore. I think I set him straight the last time I talked to him…which was the day I met you."

"Best day of my life," he whispers against her neck, tickling laughter out of her.

"So, how about you and your past loves, mister? Got anything to share?"

"No…" He starts to passionately lay kisses on the back of her neck.

Olivia shivers at the sensation then says, "Kissing my neck to death isn't going to stop me from asking, you know?"

He laughs at this then sighs. "There isn't really much to tell or much that you'd want to hear. I had some girlfriends in high school and when I started college and several one night stands that I'm not proud of. Then there was Mellie and now you—the best thing that ever happened to me and the most beautiful—brilliant—sexy—kind—awesome girl in the world," he says, laying big, smooshy kisses on her cheek with every description, making her laugh.

She turns back around to him and grows serious. "I love you."

"Someone's getting better at saying that," he teases but also stays serious because he knows how much it really means to her. "I love you, too, my dear."

"I mean it, Fitz. Every—single—word," she says, mimicking him by laying the sweetest, softest kisses on his lips.

She pulls away but Fitz pulls her right back to him, deepening the kiss. He puts his hands to her waist, hoisting her up closer to him. She wraps her arms around his neck as their tongues dance together inside each other's mouths. They continue like this for several more minutes, taking brief breaks for air, and but stop for good when they both hear the sliding door to the backyard open and shut, thinking someone saw them, even though they're pretty well hidden. They look up and only see a glimpse of someone walking away inside the house, making them both exhale.

"Good. You may be my boyfriend but I know we'd get relentless teasing with us sticking our tongues down each other's throats like that and by the end of tonight, the whole house would know."

Fitz smiles. "And I'd really hate to have to deal with those two twin knuckleheads again. They already gave me enough trouble earlier."

"I know. They worked your ass pretty hard in that basketball game. It crossed my mind more than once that you might pass out while chasing them down."

Fitz chuckles. "Believe me, I thought the same thing, but it was really a lot of fun. I never got to do cool, enjoyable things like that with my family, especially during holidays, since my Dad was always upset that he had to spend time with me and my Mom instead of working. Thanks again for bringing me along, Liv, it really means a lot."

"You're welcome, babe, I'm glad that you came," she tells him, laying a sweet kiss on his cheek and then snuggling into him again. He lays his head on top of hers and relishes in how perfect this moment feels right now and he can almost sense things slowly aligning into place.

**Hope you liked this one. It was originally supposed to be one chapter but since there was too much stuff, I decided to split it into two parts. What do you think of Olivia's family—her mom, Emmy, the twins, Grandpa Joe? Basketball game =)? Other thoughts? Please tell and thanks for reading!**


	9. Meet the Family (Part 2)

**And here's part two picking off right from where 1 left off. Enjoy!**

**Meet the Family (Part 2)**

Olivia wakes up to being roughly swayed around then the feeling of being carried in someone's arms and she guesses that that someone is most likely only one person.

"Fitz…" She whispers, stirring in his embrace and slowly opening her eyes.

"Hey, Livvie," he whispers back, pulling at the door to the house and then sliding it open fully with his foot. He uses his arm to close it and then says to her, "I wish I could have you in my arms all night but I'm not sure your family would like waking up to see that, especially your Grandpa. Also, I think a bed is much more comfortable."

Olivia fully opens her eyes and sees that the whole house is dark and quiet, telling her that everyone has gone to sleep. She wonders what time it is but doesn't ask because as soon as Fitz gets her to the top of the stairs, she can tell that he doesn't know where to take her to.

"Just put me down. I can find my way to Emmy's room," she tells him, and he gently does, still supporting her body in her sleepy state.

"Do you remember where the room you're sharing with Nathan is?" She asks him.

"Mmm, yeah. Goodnight, Livvie," he says, kissing her forehead in accordance with his nightly ritual.

"Goodnight, Fitz," she says back, yawning as she starts toward Emmy's room. She sees that Emmy is fast asleep and quietly fishes through her suitcase for her pajamas and toothbrush. Once she's done changing and brushing her teeth in the adjoining bathroom, she crawls into bed with Emmy, who wakes up as soon as she feels the bed move.

"Liv?" she calls out, flipping around to face Olivia.

"Hey, Em. Sorry for waking you up," Olivia says, getting comfortable under the covers.

"No, it's okay. I was going to wait up for you but I feel asleep," Emmy says in the middle of yawn. Once Olivia is settled in, Emmy pauses a moment and says, "I like Fitz, he seems like a great guy for you."

"I think so, too," Olivia replies, smiling to herself.

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah, I…really do," she answers truthfully.

"That's good then. I think he really loves you, too. He's also nice and super handsome. I hope that when I'm your age I find a boy like that."

"You will, Emmy, but don't worry about that stuff now, just focus on being a kid, okay? The older you get the more you miss it, believe me," Olivia tells her reassuringly.

Emmy nods. "Yeah, okay."

They lay in silence for a few minutes and then Emmy turns back onto her side and says, "Goodnight, Liv."

Olivia closes her eyes, still facing the ceiling. "Goodnight, Emmy."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After saying goodnight to Olivia, Fitz heads to the room that he and Nathan are sharing and expects Nathan to already be asleep like everyone else, but he walks into the room to see Nathan watching a movie on mute with subtitles. Fitz gives him a small smile and Nathan nods back in response. Fitz quickly finds his nightwear and his toothbrush then heads to the bathroom. After he's done, he quietly slips back into the room and gets into his bed. He checks his phone and notices that it's about 1 am and that he and Olivia had fallen asleep outside for almost four hours before he woke up. He quickly checks his messages to see that Mellie texted him 'Happy Thanksgiving' but with none of the Emojis she usually included. Of course she was pissed at him for not calling or anything else but she at least had the decency to say something, unlike him. He sighs in frustration as the feeling of self-loathing comes back to him. He would call her in the morning.

"I can turn the TV off if it's disturbing you," Nathan says.

"It's alright," Fitz tells him, plugging his phone back into the charger in the wall and flipping over on his side so that he's facing away from the screen. Nevertheless, Nathan decides to turn the TV off anyway about five minutes later and after several moments of silence, Fitz thinks he's gone to bed too but Nathan breaks the quiet by saying, "I know that you're not a bad guy and that you seem to care about Liv. She's…crazy about you."

Without hesitation Fitz says back, "I'm crazy about her."

Nathan acknowledges this with silence. "Just a few weeks ago, she called me about being her alibi to see you, and I didn't like it but she is my sister and she's covered for me many times before so I guess I felt like I should have her back this time. I also really haven't seen Liv this happy in a long time and it feels nice to see her this way, but our dad—he's a sociopath, and I'm sure she's already told you about Edison…"

"Yeah, I'm well aware of your dad's world domination plan but Liv and I are trying to figure out a way to make our relationship work."

Nathan waits a few seconds before asking, "What about your other…girlfriend?"

Fitz again feels a pang of guilt and answers, "I feel like a craphead for what I'm doing to Olivia and I really want to break up with the other girl, Mellie, more than anything but Liv doesn't think it'd be a smart move right now, so I'm going to do it at the end of the school year so that we're less likely to get found out by Mellie and my father, who wants me to be with Mellie, and also your dad."

Nathan digests all this and sighs. "Just—take care of her, please. I know she wants to be with you more than anything else and there's nothing I can say to stop her from seeing you, so take care of her, alright?"

"I promise I will—with my life. I love her so much already," Fitz says, meaning every single word.

"Taking care of her also involves doing something hard, like possibly letting her go if it'll keep her safe, like from our dad or anyone else. If you really love her, you'd do what needs to be done," Nathan tells him point-blank.

Fitz ponders this and can hardly fathom letting her go, especially since he's promised her over and over that he would never do such a thing—he was in this with her for the long run. He starts to get more curious about who and how Eli really is and doesn't believe Eli would go as far as seriously _hurting_ Olivia to get his way since Big Jerry would never do anything like that to him, no matter how angry Fitz made him. Fitz shakes the idea out of his head and tries to go to sleep, focusing his thoughts solely on Olivia because that always manages to calm him down and he quickly dozes off.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz wakes up to a soft kiss on his lips and the sweetest voice in the world, saying, "Fitz…wake up, babe."

His eyes flutter open to see Olivia smiling down at him and sitting on the bed. He gives her a sleepy smile.

"Good morning, beautiful," he says groggily, pulling her down to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"Fitz…" She objects, but he just holds her tighter. "Fitz, we need to get up."

"Why? It's not like we have to go anywhere. We could probably hang out in here like this for another hour," he says, now seeing that Nathan's bed is empty. He starts to peck at the back of her neck, willing her to say yes.

She stifles a moan of pleasure. "As much as I want to…it's already almost 11am and some of my family members want to say bye to you before they leave. So we need to get up, mister," she says, managing to wiggle her way out of Fitz's embrace before he can do anything.

"Oh," he says, reluctantly sitting up. Olivia nods and gets up but Fitz pulls her right back onto the bed and before she can protest again, connects his lips with hers for a slow, gentle kiss. They pull back and he wipes the hair out of her face so that he can stare at her eyes. She stares back at his in a similarly hypnotic fashion but eventually quirks an eyebrow at him and gives him a smile that is adorably sexy. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Have I mentioned how gorgeous your eyes are?" He asks, refusing to look away.

She blushes and he loves how he still has this effect on her. "Let's go, Prince Charming," she says, getting up this time and waiting for him by the door, probably so that he can't try anything to make her stay with him. He finally climbs out of the bed and follows her.

They head down the stairs together and Fitz follows Olivia to the foyer where everyone is waiting. As soon as they all see him, Fitz gets a load of greetings and ridicules as they all grin and laugh at his appearance.

"Someone finally decided to wake up," Maya says, smiling at him.

"Aww, poor man still looks half asleep," says Grandma Stella sympathetically. "What did you do, Liv, yank him right out of bed?" They all laugh.

"Nice hair," says the twin Fitz is 80% sure is Justin, he'd have to ask Olivia how to tell them apart later. He can only imagine how crazy his hair looks but he stopped caring about fixing it first thing in the morning a few weeks ago after Olivia told him to leave it because she adores his messy curls.

He smiles shyly at them all. "Yeah…sorry."

They tell him they're just giving him a hard time and then those who are leaving grab their suitcases and head towards the cars they came in. Grandpa Joe and Grandma Stella, along with Maya's sister's family are staying for the weekend because they live in different states and want to get the most out of their trip. Fitz inwardly groans at this, not because he has something against Olivia's grandparents but because he really didn't want to have to deal with the twins for even one more day.

After everyone leaves, Emmy asks Fitz if he wants to go see her room and Fitz undoubtedly agrees. She takes him by the hand and drags him along like she did the day before with Olivia, which everyone finds amusing. Fitz expected the room to be all girly and princess-like or to look like whatever most 10 year-old girls are into these days, but he's surprised to see that it's instead decked out like a library. The room is almost like a two-story, with the bottom being used as some kind of play or recreational area with beanbags, a mini couch, and a fridge, microwave, and flat screen, similar to the guest room he's staying in. At the back of her room is a queen-sized alcove bed, partially hidden by curtains. A small ladder connects to a sort of mezzanine that encircles the entire room and that is dedicated to the library part of the room, with the bookshelves carved into the wall so that the books are actually in the wall and a work table right in front of the window that gives a pretty nice view of the city. He also sees many portraits of famous leaders and politicians framed on her walls, along with a few small foam statues of what he assumes are her favorite people or people she admires, including Abraham Lincoln and President Obama.

"Wow," is all Fitz can say. He's seen pretty extravagant rooms and even had a few growing up as a kid but has never seen one quite like this, especially since it was so unexpected from him of her to have a room so mature.

"I got it renovated this summer since I had been bugging Mom and Dad about having a more grown-up room that showcased more of what I liked—and it ended up being perfect! Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's amazing, Emmy. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it for a bedroom before," Fitz tells her still looking around the room in amazement.

She smiles back at him. "I used to be really into girly stuff but Liv is really smart and she told me that you get that way by reading and doing well in school so I did just that. I really want to be a lawyer and be just like Liv someday, since she's a great student and great person in general. She's probably my biggest supporter and I feel like she really believes in me and doesn't treat me like a little kid like everyone else, you know? She's also beautiful, inside and out."

Fitz nods, smiling hearteningly down at Emmy. "Yeah, she is, she's extremely beautiful and one of the most amazing people I've ever known, and I have no doubt that if you really want to become a lawyer too someday, you can do it."

"Thanks, Fitz. And just so you know, Liv really loves you and she deserves someone good like you. I hope you guys stay together forever!" She exclaims.

Fitz grins and then says quietly, "Me, too."

Before they leave to go back out with everyone else, Emmy quickly tells Fitz, "And don't mind Justin and Jordan because they're idiots and they're just jealous of you because you're better-looking and more charming than them—they could really take a few lessons."

Fitz laughs at this and thanks her as they go out to find everyone else.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

For the rest of the day, after cleaning the house up a bit, everyone kind of just branches out and does they're own thing. Maya and the rest of the adults hang around mostly in the living room either talking or watching TV, the twins and Nathan stay upstairs for the majority of the day in the house's game room playing video games, Emmy spends her time cooped up in her room working on a project for school, and Olivia and Fitz stay outside, coming in occasionally for food and bathroom breaks, to get some private time, something Olivia thinks they've gotten a little too used to since they're always spending time together in secret.

Around 5pm they decide to come in for good, only to be sent back out again by Maya who wants Fitz and Olivia to take the kids out to a local fair that's set up in town every year the day after Thanksgiving. Maya says it'll be good for all of them since they've just been sitting around the house all day and she wants them to do something fun before they all leave. Fitz and Olivia agree since they really don't have anything else better to do and after a little reluctance from the boys who claimed they were in the middle of a video game that they'd been playing for the past five hours, all the kids are out of the house by six and piled up into Maya's Sequoia, though Emmy wasn't too happy because she was the only one in the very backseat of the truck.

Olivia takes notice that the fair isn't as packed as it was in previous years, so Fitz is able to find parking not too far away from the fair. Fitz buys enough tickets for three hours for everyone with the money Maya gave him, though he wanted to pay for it with his own money but she insisted on him using hers, and they go in. The twins and Nathan split off from Olivia, Fitz, and Emmy, having found some games and rides they deemed cool enough to check out. Emmy doesn't wait long before she's whisking Fitz around the fair and getting him to win prizes for her. Olivia knows Emmy's starting to get clingy and wants to tell her to tone it down, but Fitz doesn't seem to mind and looks like he's actually enjoying playing every single carnival game Emmy takes him to, so Olivia doesn't bother them.

"Here you go, my dear," Fitz says with a goofy smile on his face, handing Olivia a medium-sized, stuffed Tweety bird.

"This really wasn't necessary," she tells him, but takes it anyway.

"Yeah, it was. Normal boyfriends win prizes for their girlfriends all the time—and while this relationship isn't normal, I'm making sure that you get the full Fitzgerald Grant experience and this is part of it. So, don't even think about protesting, Liv, because I swear we are not leaving here until I win you that," he tells her, pointing up at a life-sized white teddy bear in a black hat hanging up at one of the game booths.

She laughs, shaking her head. "You are relentless."

Before he can reply, he hears Emmy call from the booth, "Fitz!"

"The princess calls so wait here, my queen," he says, winking at her and walking back to Emmy. Fitz stays true to his word and wins Olivia the huge teddy bear and also gets Emmy a small pink Angry Bird. They move onto rides and go on a few mild ones together before finding a rollercoaster that's suitable for Emmy which is where they also locate the twins and Nathan who are already waiting in line to go. Olivia decides to sit this one out since she feels like she's already gone on enough rides for the day. Fitz leaves her with her teddy bear that he's carried for her around the park, along with the rest of their prizes and promises her that he will go on the ferris wheel with her after this ride. Olivia can see that he feels a little guilty for not doing much with her at the fair because of Emmy but Olivia isn't even the least bit upset since they spent the entire day together and she's just glad that Fitz is getting along so well with everyone, especially Emmy.

She watches as Fitz and Emmy get onto the ride, sharing a cart and wave frantically back to her like little kids. Olivia waves back, laughing, and continues to look at them as Emmy takes off the over-sized, funky glasses she's wearing, fixes them on Fitz's face, and poses with him to take a selfie before the ride starts. As they take off, Olivia relishes in this perfect moment and feels full of hope that maybe her and Fitz can have the life together that they've always wanted and as she watches her favorite people in the world put their hands in the air and scream their heads off then laugh it off, she actually envisions how things will be years from now when all the hard stuff is over and she and Fitz are officially together. But she gets that familiar pang at the back of her mind whenever she's being too hopeful and before she can think any further about it, the voice she never wanted to hear again says from behind her, "So, you're with him now."

She flips around fast to see Jake staring at her, feigning an indifferent expression but she can see the anger and hurt in his eyes.

"Jake, what're you doing here?" she says slowly, refusing to fully look at him.

"This is a public event, Liv, anyone can come. And I'm visiting my parents for the holiday, probably like you are."

She nods, still glancing away.

"I didn't know that you had family up here—mostly because you never really did want me to know anything about you or your family, it's like you were in the Witness Protection Program or something—"

"Is there a point to what you're saying right now? Why are you even talking to me, Jake? I told you I didn't want to see you again."

He remains quiet for a few moments, staring intently at the ground, which is slowly making Olivia uncomfortable. She glances back at the rollercoaster and sees Fitz and Emmy laughing away, calming her down a bit. "I just…have one question. Did you dump me for him?"

She gives him a puzzled expression. "Who? _Fitz_?"

"Did you know him before we broke up? Did you have feelings for him while we were dating?"

"Jake, I hadn't even met him before mid-September—"

"See, I don't think that that's true because Fitz claimed to have a girlfriend that went to Berkeley, just like you but he never really talked about her, he never even gave up a name. He said he met her during the summer and I was with you for the entire summer. But at the beginning of the school year he comes to California to see this supposed girlfriend and two months later, he's moving all the way across the country—to attend Berkeley. So, I don't think that you met him in September, I think you knew him a lot earlier and you guys decided to start some kind of secret, long-distance relationship, only you were still dating me. And you continued it after you broke up with me."

She positions the teddy bear on the ground, so that she can look at him clearly and says, "Really? You think I was cheating on you and then broke up with you for him? I ended things with you because you were acting like an asshole and I was frustrated and fed up with it, that's why, and I've moved on so I don't know why you can't."

He sighs, shaking his head. "I'm sorry for whatever went wrong and for however I made you feel that made you want to end it, but you were acting so distant from me during those three months and I felt like I had a right to question it especially since we were doing great before the school year ended."

Olivia looks at him incredulously. "Question what? Why I didn't want to sleep with you? You thought that there must've been something wrong with _me_ just because I didn't give into you? Jake, here's a news flash—the world doesn't revolve around you and your supposed needs."

He looks away from her and hesitates a few seconds before saying angrily, "I'm sure you're giving it up to him whenever he wants it. And you probably think that he's just the greatest thing that ever happened to you but when he's done with you, I'm sure he'll have more little whores to entice to fulfill his needs."

Olivia glares at him and walks away, mumbling, "You always did have a way with words."

Jake quickly goes after her, trying to apologize like he always did whenever he would go too far, but she had had enough. "Liv, I'm sorry—"

She stops and turns back to face him. "Don't call me that! This is why I broke up with you—because of the crappy, messed up things like that that you said to me. And if I had known Fitz while we were dating, I probably would've dumped you for him because Fitz is more of a man now than you will ever be. Oh, and who I am or am not screwing is no longer any of your damn business. Goodbye, Jake."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz helps Emmy off the rollercoaster cart as she goes off animatedly about how scared she was at a certain part of the ride and how she thought she was going to be sick.

"Did you have fun, though?" He asks, now regretting the ride, thinking it was a little too much for her.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" She exclaims, bringing a smile to Fitz's face. "Liv should've come on with us. Where is she anyway?"

Fitz looks at the spot where they left her and doesn't find her but about ten feet to the right of there, he sees her with no other than Jake Ballard and by the way they're looking at each other and standing, they're having an argument. His blood immediately starts to boil and his body urges him to march right over there and knock Jake's teeth out, but his mind is telling him that wouldn't be the best move, especially with Emmy standing right there, looking between Olivia, Jake, and him in confusion. _Why couldn't he just leave her alone_? Olivia said that she had set him straight months ago but that wasn't the case since he was there in the flesh with her right now. Unless Olivia hadn't told the truth and she was still talking to him behind Fitz's back. He pushes that thought away, knowing it's false because he knows how much she loves him and that she wouldn't lie to him about that. He leans down to Emmy so that she can hear him through the loud music that just started playing from the ride and tells her, "I'm going to go over there and see what's going on. Nathan and the twins are almost off the ride so can you wait here until they come?"

Emmy is still confused but nods. "I'll be right back," Fitz tells her and then walks over to Olivia and Jake as fast as his legs will carry him. He gets there just as Olivia is saying, "…is no longer any of your damn business. Goodbye, Jake."

He rushes to her side, seeing that she's obviously in distress and asks, "Olivia, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says. He makes eye contact with Jake, burning holes through him and notices him shrink back slightly. Fitz takes the big teddy bear at Olivia's side, placing it next to him and pulls her to him, putting his arm around her waist. He feels her instantly relax in his embrace but doesn't take his eyes off of Jake. He wants nothing but to go over to Jake and punch the crap out of him for making Olivia feel even remotely upset by what he did or said, but he knows she wouldn't want him to make a scene. Through gritted teeth he says to Jake, "Can I help you with something, Jake?"

Jake looks back at him with same level of contempt but Fitz continues to stare him down, standing his ground. Jake nods to himself, accepting that this interaction is over and says with a spiteful smile, "No. You two have fun together." And with that, he's off.

"Fitz…Fitz, that kind of hurts," Olivia says, shaking him out of his defensive trance. He notices that his fingers are jammed into her side and he lets go, apologizing, "Sorry, Liv. Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yes, Fitz, he didn't do anything to the bear because if he had I would've kicked his ass, but we're alright," she jokes, rolling her eyes. He gives her a small smile but he hasn't completely calmed down and won't until he knows what happened. "What happened?"

"Fitz, don't worry—"

"Liv…"

"It's not like I was in any danger. Yes, we argued and he acted like the jerk I know he is but I had it handled. And then you marched over here like you were the freakin' Hulk getting ready to smash him to pieces." She sighs and goes on her tiptoes and puts her hands to his cheeks, shifting his face down to hers. "Thank you for having my back but I can take care of myself. I had it handled."

He puts his hands gently on her waist to steady her and stares into her eyes and it does the trick to calm him down. He lets it go, deciding to trust her and agrees, "You had it handled."

"Yes." She gives him a gentle kiss on his lips.

"If you want to go back home we can. I'm sure Emmy and the boys have gotten their fair share of fun for tonight."

She takes his hand as they walk back towards where Emmy is waiting with the boys. "They probably have, but you still owe me a ride on the ferris wheel, remember?"

He smirks. "Of course."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next day is much like the day before in the sense that the family just hangs around the house together. Olivia and Emmy wake up early in the morning to help their mom cook a big breakfast since Gloria and her family were leaving around 10am. In the late afternoon, everyone starts asking for food again so Fitz offers to make the family turkey sandwiches using the leftovers from Thursday to give Maya a break from cooking for once, and Chris decides to join him while Olivia helps Emmy with some homework but even from all the way upstairs, she can hear the two guys getting along just great.

After Olivia and Emmy are done, they go downstairs because they expected the sandwiches to be long done but when they get to the kitchen they see that Fitz and Chris have barely started but they give the excuse that they're making something else to go along with the sandwiches so it's going to take longer. The two guys continue their conversation about the best sports cars they've ever driven as Olivia and Emmy join Nathan in the backyard and kick around a soccer ball for a half an hour before Fitz calls them in, saying the food is ready. They all eat in the living room while watching an old sci-fi flick for the next two and a half hours. After that, Emmy and Nathan go upstairs to play a Wii game and Fitz and Olivia stay with the adults in the living room to casually chat with the news showing on the TV in the background.

They're in the middle of a heated discussion about how different kids back in the older days were compared to now when Fitz's phone goes off. He checks the caller ID and Olivia sees his whole body language go from relaxed to tense and rigid as he says, "It's my cousin. Sorry, let me just step out to take this."

They nod understandingly but Olivia feels dejected because she knows that 'cousin' is hers and Fitz's code name for Mellie. They resume the conversation but Olivia isn't really engaging as she looks out the window at Fitz, who's pacing around with the phone pressed to his ear, looking just plain tired. She tries to listen to her family talking but as five minutes go by she can't help but feel a pang of jealousy growing. Fitz catches her gaze and rolls his eyes, shrugging and mouthing 'sorry'. She mouths back 'it's okay' but she can see that he knows it's not. She concentrates on the TV which actually manages to keep her attention since the local news is broadcasting a small fire at some restaurant downtown. As she continues to watch, she hears Fitz's voice and thinks that he's just finishing up with Mellie but when she hears her Grandpa's voice in an icy tone, she gets up to see what's going on.

"…didn't sound like it," she hears Grandpa Joe challenge, as she walks around the corner to the foyer to see her Grandpa staring Fitz down and Fitz trying his best to stay calm.

"What's going on?" Olivia asks, crossing her arms over her chest and looking between Grandpa Joe and Fitz for an answer. Both men remain quiet for a few moments before Fitz turns to Olivia saying quietly, "I was just talking to my cousin." He shrugs but Grandpa Joe continues to glare at Fitz and tells him bluntly, "And like I said before, it didn't sound like it. Is there something you'd like to share, Fitzgerald?" Olivia flinches at the coldness in her Grandpa's voice as he refers to Fitz by his full name, knowing that he's extremely upset and isn't letting this go so easily. And if Olivia was right and Fitz had just gotten caught talking to Mellie by her Grandpa, things for the both of them were about to take a turn for the worst tonight if she didn't do something.

Fitz opens his mouth to speak and comes out tongue tied. He clears his throat but before he can say anything, Olivia tells Grandpa Joe, "Seriously, Grandpa, it's just his cousin. She's been…going through a hard time lately so…Fitz has been comforting her and they've gotten close. And I don't know what you heard but can you just let it go. It's not what you think it is." Olivia is surprised at how well that lie came out and feels guilty about lying to her grandfather, especially since he's just looking out for her, but him knowing the truth at this time would do more damage than good.

Fitz nods. "Really, sir. She's just my cousin and nothing else."

Grandpa Joe glares at the two of them for a long moment before relenting. He nods tolerantly, saying to Fitz, "Alright, I'm…sorry for running to conclusions so fast, but I'm a grandfather so I hope that you can understand that I will _always_ want the best for my granddaughter."

"I do understand that and I'm really trying to give that to her because she deserves nothing but the best," Fitz says, turning to Olivia and giving her a wayward smile. He looks back at Grandpa Joe and tells him, "And I'm sorry for any confusion."

Grandpa Joe gives Fitz a subtle nod and goes back into the living room to be with the rest of the family. Both Olivia and Fitz exhale and Olivia feels like she hasn't taken a breath since she confronted her Grandpa. Fitz opens up his arms for her and she gladly goes into them. "That was close," she mumbles against his chest.

"I really hate lying to your family like this," he says, keeping his voice low.

"Me, too, but we have to stick to the plan," she says reluctantly.

"But the plan doesn't really involve them. Didn't you say that they don't even talk to your father anymore? We could tell them."

"They'd hate you forever, Fitz, they would never trust you with me again. For now they're just going to have to believe the story that we've shown them…we just need to figure this out."

Fitz sighs but agrees with silence. "I was going to go take a shower_. Care to join me_?" He says, bringing his voice down an octave, making a chill run down her spine.

She looks up at him and chuckles nervously. "You are shameless."

"So, is that a yes or a no…?"

She laughs out loud and swats him on the arm. "In your dreams, mister. If we even tried that, my Grandpa would kill you with his own two hands since he's already so suspicious of you."

Fitz laughs at this and says quietly to her, "In my dreams, indeed." He pecks her on the lips and heads toward the stairs, leaving Olivia feeling electrified from his comment. She waits a few seconds, trying to return her breathing to a normal rate before joining her family in the living room. She sits down next to Chris, putting her feet up on the couch. "Everything okay, Liv?" he asks.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replies, giving him a smile which he returns. They start watching some detective show but once a commercial comes, five minutes into the show, Grandpa Joe says, "Olivia, can I talk to you in the kitchen?"

"Um, sure…" she says hesitantly, a little nervous as to what he wants to discuss now. She follows him out of the room into the kitchen and sees her mom, who she didn't even notice wasn't in the living room with them earlier, washing a few plates in the sink. She gives them a small smile which turns into a frown when she sees her dad's troubled expression.

"What's going on?" Maya asks, wiping her hands on a towel.

Instead of answering Maya, Grandpa Joe turns to Olivia and asks, "Where's Fitz?"

"Upstairs taking a shower," she replies. "Why are you asking?"

He sighs and says in a soft tone, "Liv, I know that you really care for Fitz and that you may be starting to get tired of me meddling in your life, but I only do it because I love and care about you." He takes a deep breath before saying, "Olivia, I think that Fitzgerald is seeing someone else."

"Grandpa, we already talked about this, that was his cousin on the phone," Olivia says, half annoyed and half anxious with this idea being brought up again.

"Not from what I heard. I went along with it back there because I didn't want to embarrass you in front of him in case I was wrong, but I thought over it some more and I know what I heard," he assures her.

"And what exactly did you hear?" Maya asks, confused as ever.

"Something along the lines of 'you're the only one for me' and he called her 'honey', too," he says, squinting as he recalls the conversation. "Do those sound like things cousins would say to each other?" He asks, turning to both Olivia and Maya.

"I think you heard wrongly, Grandpa, so please drop it. Fitz, is a good guy, he wouldn't do that," Olivia tries to downplay.

"I don't think you quite believe that," he says. "Do you think there's a possibility he might be dating someone else as well?"

They both look to her and she swallows quickly before, answering, "No."

"Olivia, you're lying," her mom says without hesitation. "What's really going on?"

They both turn to her expectantly and Olivia racks through her brain, thinking of believable ways to get out of this because she knows the people in front of her are two of the most intuitive individuals she's ever met in her life and she knows that they won't let her go until they get something solid. She sighs and says truthfully but vaguely, "It's really complicated, you guys."

Her mom crosses her arms over her chest now staring at her daughter expectantly and Olivia can't help but think about how similar they really are. "Well, explain it because I have all night."

"Me, too," Grandpa Joe says.

Olivia shakes her head, seeing just how serious they are. "We still have another day here and Mom, I don't need you staring Fitz down during that whole time or you, Grandpa, trying to kill him in his sleep. I promise I'll tell you everything a little later but right now is probably the worst time for this discussion, so can we drop it for now."

"Just answer me this," Grandpa Joe says calmly, but not letting up his guard. "Do you know if he's seeing another girl?" Olivia looks away, shaking her head again like it's a ridiculous accusation, and doing her best to hide the answer in her eyes but she realizes too late that her silence doesn't help. "Olivia, _do you know if he is seeing another girl_?" Grandpa Joe repeats in a more stern tone.

Olivia simply shrugs at them, giving them the answer. "Like I said, it's complicated, but I…I love him and he makes me happy," she reveals truthfully, instantly regretting it because of how silly she now sounds. She sighs. "I know I sound like some stupid, lovesick teenager for saying that but it's true. And it really isn't what you think."

Her Grandpa raises his eyebrows at her. "You love him? Olivia, you are better than this. What in the world would make you settle for a boy that is two-timing you?"

Maya cuts in before Olivia can say anything, "Look, Olivia, I know you think you love him but you're still so young and trying to figure out what love really is. Don't make the same mistake I did with your father. Don't trust someone with your heart who doesn't deserve it and fool yourself into thinking it's love and then end up with your heart broken and your view of what love should be distorted. I know he's charming and handsome and he swept you off of your feet but to him it's a game—he's playing you."

Olivia looks away from them, refusing to hear it and starts explain, "You guys don't understand, that's why I keep saying it's complicated. It's complicated because of my dad and his father. Dad wants me to date and eventually marry Edison Davis, the son of another black mogul in America, and Fitz's father wants him to marry another girl…the one he's already dating, but—we want to be together."

"And if he wants that, why doesn't he break up with this other girl?" Grandpa Joe questions.

"Because it's not that simple. If he were to break up with her for me, he would not only piss off his father but Dad wouldn't be too happy about it either, so we're trying to figure out how to deal with it. We have a plan for Fitz to break up with the girl at the end of the school year so she doesn't give Fitz trouble during the school year and then we'll date in secret until we figure out how to deal with Dad."

"And you're fine with him staying with this girl for the next 6 months?" Grandpa Joe exclaims in a hushed whisper, not believing what is being said before him. "What the hell, Olivia?"

Olivia stares at the ground, embarrassed to look up at the two of them and says quietly, "It's for the best right now." She musters up enough courage to say as firmly as she can, "This conversation is over—and if you guys start to badger Fitz, we're leaving tonight."

She turns her back to them, walking out of the room and going to find Fitz, feeling like she just made a foolish mistake, but she knows nothing good would've come out of continuing to discuss her sticky situation with them. She goes upstairs to the room Nathan and Fitz are sharing and sits on his bed. She deliberates over whether or not she should tell him about the conversation she just had downstairs as she hears him still showering in the bathroom across the hall. They promised to be honest with each other and Olivia isn't going to know what to tell him when he gets dirty looks from Maya and her Grandpa, but she knows that if she tells him, he'll want to go talk to them and fix the problem. But it can't be fixed that way-him trying to talk it out with them and make them understand will likely worsen things and they'll probably hate him even more for trying to justify the situation. And she plans on being with Fitz for a long time so she doesn't know what she'd do if the whole family ended up hating him.

Olivia continues to wait as Fitz stops showering, brushes his teeth, and gets dressed. He comes out in a t-shirt and flannel pants, running his fingers through his disheveled and slightly wet curls, making Olivia bite her lip in desire. His face lights up as soon as he sees her waiting for him and says, "This is a nice surprise."

She smiles back at him as he sits down next to her and asks her with a devilish grin, "And is she also staying the night?"

She rolls her eyes and tells him, "Yes, and she'll be two rooms down."

"Oh, how you wound me," he says, putting a hand against his chest dramatically, making her laugh. He pulls her to him and leans against the wall. "I can't wait to go to sleep with you in my arms again soon. Please say you'll stay at the apartment tomorrow night."

Olivia can feel her breathing and heartbeat matching his as she starts to relax in his embrace. She breathes in his wonderful scent and buries her face into his chest, inhaling his scent even more.

He chuckles. "Liv?"

"Yeah. Of course I'll stay. I've missed you and our bed a lot, too," she murmurs, looking up at him and kissing just under his chin.

He smiles down at her and they sit in a comfortable silence for a while. "We should probably go back downstairs."

"We don't have to," Olivia says, snuggling deeper into Fitz to show him that she doesn't want to go anywhere. The last thing she wants is to have to face her mom and grandpa again that night, especially if Fitz is with her. They still needed time to cool down.

"Don't you want to say goodnight at least?"

"No, it's alright, we'll see them tomorrow. And by the way, would you mind us leaving a little early, maybe in the morning?"

"Uh…no, it's fine. Is there a reason why, though?"

"I just want to do some studying before the week starts and I left some essential material at the apartment…I guess I just forgot." Fitz nods, accepting her answer and Olivia hates that she's lying to him but the faster they got out of there, the better. She was surprised that her Grandpa wasn't trying to throw him out of the house right now but she had made it pretty clear to them that she was sticking by Fitz. She just hoped that one day they would accept him and that they could all move past this because like she had said before—she was never letting him go.

**And there goes the end of the Thanksgiving visit. I hope you enjoyed meeting the family and the other things that went along with it. This is the last time we'll be seeing Jake so if you thought in the back of your mind he was going to steal Liv back…it's not happening, she's stuck on Fitz. And speaking of that, how do you feel about Olivia standing by Fitz instead of by her family who just has her best interests as heart? Do you think it was the right choice? Do you think she'll regret her decision later? Have any other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	10. Love in the Air

**Thanks for all the reviews and support of this story—I hold them very dear to my heart. This was a nice chapter to write so I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 10: Love in the Air**

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Olivia and Fitz had gotten back to the apartment around 10 in the morning, not even staying for breakfast because Olivia had been in such a hurry to whisk them out of her family's house, which Fitz found strange, even if she had schoolwork to do. But he had known something was up when he and Olivia were saying goodbye to everyone and he had gotten the meanest of looks from Maya and Grandpa Joe. They didn't even seem to want to be anywhere near him so instead of a normal farewell handshake or hug, he just waved awkwardly at them and got into the car. He immediately asked Olivia what was going on and after some hesitation, she told him about her conversation with her mom and grandpa. Fitz had been angry that she lied to him and told her that they should go back so that he could straighten things out. She refused, telling him it would do more harm than good and after a series of back and forth, with both of them stating their points, they decided to let it go—or at least for now in Fitz's mind. He would have to do something big to win their trust back once everything with Mellie was over and done with.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia pulled into the parking lot of Fitz's apartment complex, exhausted and ready to do some relaxing before she started her homework. As soon as she unlocks the front door and enters, she drops her stuff and sees Fitz sitting casually on the couch, watching TV, so she goes over to him.

He grins up at her once he sees her and welcomes her gladly into his arms. "Hey, baby. How was your day?"

O: "It was good, but tiring. I could really use a nap right now, but I probably shouldn't since I have a test to study for. How about yours?"

"Just doing more work with that case I told you about. We're still just gathering up info so the day's been pretty slow," he replies. "Are you hungry? I made some mac 'n' cheese," he says getting up and going to the kitchen to prepare their food.

"Mac 'n' cheese?" Olivia asks, crinkling her face in a goofy expression.

"Yeah, Kraft's. It's fine, right? You don't have some rare cheese allergy I should be worried about?"

She laughs. "No, my body has nothing against cheese. I just haven't had it in such a long time, but mac 'n' cheese sounds good right now."

Fitz dishes the food into bowls and then comes back to the living room to hand Olivia hers and a drink.

"Thank you." He sits back down and as she's about to take a bite into her food, she looks over at Fitz and he smiles nervously at her as he motions for her to sit on his lap. She giggles at his timidity and goes over to sit on him, stretching her legs out on the couch.

"You're welcome," he says, grinning at her and digging into his bowl. "When do you have to be back?"

"Around 10 or so. Abby's at one of her study groups again so she shouldn't be back until then. Speaking of Abby, I have something to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Well…she met this guy not too long ago, David, who she's been talking about nonstop and he just asked her out on a date for this weekend, but she's still apprehensive about the whole thing since her last boyfriend was a real jerk and he did a number on her. So, she asked me if I'd go out on a dinner double date with her this Friday and…I said yes."

"Okay…but Liv, you know we can't do that."

"That's why I was thinking of asking someone else," Olivia tells him, avoiding eye contact. She sees his expression and rushes to say, "It would just be this one time and that would be it."

Fitz looks at her incredulously. "Liv—no. You can't be serious. You can't find some guy to hook up with just to go on a date with Abby."

"It's a double date, Fitz, there's nothing remotely serious about it since we'd be with two other people the whole time. And I don't like this anymore than you do because I can't go with you but I just feel like I've been so distant from Abby recently and the rest of my friends. We both have because of this relationship and it sucks but that doesn't mean we should totally ignore everyone around us. And she really needs this. She's too scared to go on a date alone with him and she wants me there in case she freaks or things get awkward."

Fitz sighs. "Who would you even go with? You can't just pick some random guy who's only incentive for going is that when your date is done, he'll get to take you home with him and have his way with you—"

"Who the heck said that I was going home with anyone? After the date is done, the night will end right there when he drops me off at my dorm."

"Why can't you have Harrison or Huck take you? I at least trust them more than some random horny douchebag."

Olivia struggles not to smile at his choice of words. "I considered that but remember how I kind of mentioned that my dad keeps trying to get me to meet up with Edison again."

Fitz rolls his eyes. "Don't remind me…"

"Well, I thought that this could be a good opportunity for me to get a meeting out of the way."

"You mean a date? You want to go with him on this date. Liv, no…"

"Fitz, my father won't stop bugging me until I show some sign that I'm at least giving Edison a try. If I don't then he'll think something's up and the last thing we need is him getting suspicious."

"So, you want me to be okay with you going out on a date—"

"A double date."

"'A double date' with the asshole that is trying to steal you away from me because it would help your friend and put you on better terms with your father? Well, Liv, I'm not okay with it, not in the very least. I just had to face one of your ex-boyfriends a week ago and I barely got through that without tearing his face off. I can hardly stomach you going on a date with another guy, especially Edison. And I know that I really don't have the right to be jealous or possessive with the way things are with Mellie, but I am. I just…I don't want you to go on this one date with Edison and have him do something that convinces or wows you enough to the point where you don't think what we have is worth it anymore. I mean, I know that he's single and your father approves of him—"

Olivia puts her bowl down and places her hand on Fitz's cheek. "Fitz, first of all, I don't give a crap about whether or not my father approves of him because I am _not_ marrying Edison, but until we can figure out how to deal with this situation carefully, I at least have to see him occasionally. And Fitz, I need you to know that I'm never going to think that what we have isn't worth fighting for. YOU are my endgame. You're the only one I want."

She can see that her words have calmed him down a bit and he finally relents, "Fine. Go with him, but for tonight and all the times after this date, you're mine." He kisses her, a little more forcibly than usual, showing her how much he means what he says.

She pulls away and says, "Hey, I get it, I'm all yours, okay? But I do have a test to study for, mister, and food that needs tending to."

"You're so brilliant that you don't need to study for anything, and I think that I'll be able to satisfy any of your hunger needs," he says with a mischievous smile as he begins to slowly and sensually lay kisses down her neck. She rolls her eyes but happily gives into him.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next day Olivia calls her father to get in touch with Edison about the date, which she dreads but she can only hope that their conversation won't be terrible since she is technically giving him what he wants.

"Hello."

"Hey, Dad," she greets awkwardly.

"Olivia. Did you need something?" He asks in a less than amused tone. Olivia is so turned off by his response that she feels like hanging up on him right then and there. _Really? I can't even call just to say 'hi', I have to _need _something?_

Olivia takes a breath before proceeding. "Um, yeah. I was wondering if you could give me Edison Davis's phone number or maybe you could talk to him yourself and ask him something."

"Something like what?"

"I was thinking about going out on a double date with Abby—maybe you remember her—so I thought this would be a good opportunity for Edison and I to do something together. Do you think he would be interested?" She asks.

His voice perks up slightly. "Hmm, possibly. Though, I would've preferred the two of you going on a date _alone_, and soon that can be arranged, but until then, this will do. You may ask him yourself." He gives Olivia Edison's number.

"Okay. Thanks…um, bye," she tells him cumbersomely, not knowing how else to end the conversation.

"Goodbye, Olivia."

She then proceeds to call Edison, who picks up after a couple rings. She asks him about the date and after some small talk and deliberation over whether or not he'd be able to go, he says yes.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Friday night comes around faster than Olivia thought it would and as she and Abby are in their room getting ready, she tries not to act like too much of a sour puss at the idea of spending her evening with Edison. She reminds herself that she'll be with Abby and David as well the whole time so she doesn't even have to talk to him all that much, and after the date, he'll take her home. She would be fine.

"Oh, Liv, you have to wear this dress! It'll look so hot on you." David had picked out a well-known, fancy but affordable Italian restaurant that required at least semi-formal attire, much to Olivia's discontent. But things weren't made any better when Abby presented to her a simple but showy, sleeveless plum-color dress with a V-neck in the front and back, that would go up to right above her knees and hug her curves in all the right places. It would look hot on her—_too_ hot, which is why just thinking of wearing it made her feel as if she were betraying Fitz.

Olivia scowls. "Abby, that dress is too sexy for me."

Abby rolls her eyes. "You're only saying that because you know it'll fit you well and you're too afraid to show off your body."

"Exactly."

"Don't you want to impress you date? I looked him up and he's pretty good-looking, but he's also rich—you guys would do well together."

Olivia raises her eyebrows at this. "Just because he doesn't look that bad and he's rich? That's what we have in common, Abby?"

"Liv, you know I didn't mean it that way. I just think it's time you move on past Joke and get someone new in your life, and if he's the right guy for you then it works out perfectly since you guys are in the same league socially." Olivia struggles not to cringe at this because she knows Edison will never be the right guy for her since someone else has already taken that title. "I forgot to ask you how you guys met."

"I met him about two months ago at that gala my dad forces me to go to every year. My dad set him up as my date for the night and it went…well, I guess." Olivia thinks about Fitz and smiles at the memory. She shrugs as she says. "So, I thought maybe we could go on some sort of date, maybe see if it works out, like you said."

"Well…it will most definitely go well if you wear this dress. He won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Olivia isn't sure she wants that.

"Abby, the last time you picked out a dress for me. I ended up getting drunk off my ass and puking like there was no tomorrow. I can only imagine what would happen this time."

Abby rolls her eyes and sighs. "What else did you have in mind then?"

Olivia goes to her closet and pulls out a long-sleeved midnight blue dress that covers everything and flows down to her knees. It's conservative and looks a little like something someone thirty years older than her would wear and Olivia didn't even remember when or why she bought it, but it was safe, which is what she was going for that night.

"Seriously? Are you trying to look like the fairy godmother? I swear, if you step out of this room wearing that, I will act like I don't know you for the rest of the night."

"Well, Abby, I'm wearing it, so deal with it," Olivia says back firmly.

Abby gives her confusing look. "Liv, what's going on? Why are you so insistent on going out looking like a nun? This dress isn't going to make into a whore—just be daring for once," she tells her, gesturing to the plum-color dress.

"Abby, I…"

"Just try it on and if you don't like how you look in it then you can go with your granny attire."

Olivia glares at her and changes into the dress. Abby ends up being right, the dress did fit her like a glove and she looked amazing.

"You like?" Abby asks with a knowing smile.

Olivia blushes because she does like it and knows that if Fitz were there right now, he'd be telling her how great she looks. At the thought of Fitz, Olivia hears her text message alert beep and checks her phone to see a text from no other than Fitz.

Hey, how's getting ready 4 ur date going? I hope not too well ; )

Olivia: : ) It's going alright. I'm still deciding on what to wear.

"Sit down so I can help you out with your hair," Abby orders. "I have an idea for it that will go beautifully with the dress."

"That I'm still deciding on wearing."

Abby groans in response.

Fitz: When u figure it out can u send me a pic?

Olivia frowns at this but before she can reply, Abby says to her, "The more time we spend deliberating about this, the less time we have for me to get ready."

"Abby, this is technically your date. Don't worry about me. Tonight is about you."

"I don't know…it's just—this is the first date I've gone on since Paul and I'm tired of all the one night stands I've had since then. I'm sick of feeling alone and…unwanted. I just want this to go well because I really like David, he's a good guy, but I'm also afraid to look forward to it because then I feel like something will go wrong. So, please let me distract myself and let me do your hair," she says, with pleading eyes, shocking Olivia because she's never seen Abby so nervous.

Olivia's about to say something but then she gets another text from Fitz

Liv?

She quickly texts him to 'hold on' and turns to Abby. "From what you've told me, David does seem like a really good guy. I don't detect any red flags from him and if I do I would tell you. But you've managed to find a potentially good, healthy relationship and someone who will treat you like you deserve and like the most wanted person in the world…those things are hard to come by, Abby," she says with a sad expression on her face, thinking about her relationship with Fitz.

"Liv, are you okay?"

Olivia shakes herself out of her thoughts. "Yeah. I think you should go for it all the way."

Abby nods and smiles back at her friend. "Thanks."

"Now go get changed and stop worrying about me. I can do my own hair, but as of right now, we have only an hour and 15 minutes before our dates pick us up and not only do we still have to do hair but we have to get to make-up, too."

"Alright, fine."

Abby puts on the coral blue sheath dress that she bought in Europe and had been waiting to wear since then and finally the opportunity had come. The dress fits her perfectly, nicely accenting her fiery red hair and showing off her flawlessly toned, long legs. They do their hair together, helping each other out when needed. By time they're finished, Olivia's hair is in a gorgeous mess of curls that end around her shoulders and Abby's flows a quarter of the way down her back in subtle waves. They're able to finish make-up in a quick twenty minutes and finally slip on their shoes—Olivia in some black 4-inch sandal stilettos and Abby opting for some silver kitten heels. They grab their clutches and once they're happy with the way they look, they head out to the spot where the guys are picking them up from.

David is first to arrive around seven o' clock like they all decided on, but Edison ends up being ten minutes late, showing up in a Porsche and walking out like he's hot stuff. He doesn't even try to apologize for being late and Olivia gets even more ticked off when he checks out another girl walking by them, making her regret getting all dressed up for him. The two couples get into their cars and head to the restaurant.

Edison makes small talk, something he seems to always try doing with Olivia but it irritates her and she turns on the radio in the middle of one their awkward silences. She whips out her phone to text Fitz, hoping that will put her in a better mood for Abby's sake.

Olivia: Hey. I'm on my way to the restaurant now.

Fitz: Ok. So…what're u wearing?

Olivia: I'm not telling or showing u anything. Just calm down, it's not that bad.

Fitz: Not that bad? Ur making me nervous now. Can I at least get a peek?

Olivia: I'm in the car w/ Edison right now. I can't show u anything.

Fitz: Tell BC to keep his hands off of u 4 me.

Olivia: Who's BC?

Fitz: Bill Cosby.

Olivia laughs out loud at this and receives a quizzical look from Edison. "You seem to do that a lot."

"Do what?"

"Laugh for no reason. It's strange but you have a cute little laugh," he says, winking at her.

Olivia cringes and turns back to her phone to respond to Fitz but she sees that they're almost at the restaurant: I have to go now. We're here.

Fitz: "Ok. See u soon. Love u. And remember what I said bout BC—no hands."

Olivia: "Well see…"

Fitz: "Liv."

Olivia: "Jk, I love u too. Bye : )"

Fitz: "Bye : )"

The two couples head inside the restaurant which is appropriately filled for a Friday night. They're seated at a table in the middle of the dining area. Within the first five minutes off sitting down, they are served salad, bread, and complimentary glasses of water, and Olivia finds that she's finished her whole bowl before anyone is even half way.

"Someone's hungry," David comments, smiling sheepishly at Olivia.

Her face flushes in slight embarrassment. "Uh, yeah…I guess I was."

"It's pretty good salad, actually, I love the dressing. You guys know what you're ordering, yet? I think I'll get that—the sugo…all-arrabutta," David says,

Abby and Olivia look at each other and then giggle at him as Abby turns to him, saying, "Arra_butta_? Really, David?"

"What?"

"It's sugo all'arrab_biata_," Olivia corrects him.

"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't come out of my mother's womb speaking fluent Italian like you two," David says to them, feigning bitterness.

"That's actually not the case. Liv and I took Italian together back in high school," Abby explains.

"Don't most people take Spanish on the west coast? Why Italian?"

"Because we're special like that," Abby says, flashing him one of her trademark sassy smiles.

He rolls his eyes and smirks. "Right…"

Olivia smiles. "That and we were planning on spending a lot of time in Italy last summer, which we did, so it was useful." David nods, seeming impressed. Olivia looks over at Edison, who hasn't said anything so far and whose lips are tightly pursed together into a fake smile. She was fine with him not engaging, maybe she wouldn't have to talk to him at all that night.

"I think I'll get some spaghetti," Abby says, closing her menu.

David cocks an eyebrow at her. "Really, Abs? You know that there are like a hundred-something dishes to choose from and you choose spaghetti?"

"At least I can pronounce what I'm getting," she retorts.

"Ah, more sass from the master," he says, smirking at her. Abby lovingly lays her head on his shoulder and he smiles into her hair.

Olivia grins at them and winks at Abby. She is so glad that her friend may have found a keeper, especially one that seems so much like her in so many ways.

Olivia decides on some kind of ravioli dish and Edison goes with garlic chicken. He starts to get more involved in their conversations, seeing as how they were all probably going to be there for another two hours or so. Their food finally arrives and Olivia is about to dig in when she looks up for a second and sees something—or rather someone who takes her breath away. She continues to watch as a couple is directed to a table approximately twenty feet away from hers and they take a seat. Olivia finally breaks eye contact, reaching for her clutch and rummaging through it for her phone.

"Are you alright?" Edison asks.

"Yeah, I just…need to do something," she tells him distractedly. As soon as she had her phone, she texts Fitz as fast as her fingers will let her: What the hell are u doing here?!

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz had planned on doing something with Stephen and Andrew, two guys he had managed to befriend who were in the same year as him, or just heading to the gym to work out since that also seemed to calm him down, something he would need to do, knowing that his girl was out with another guy—though she technically wasn't all his—or he wasn't all hers and he hated it but he just had to accept that that was how it was going to be for now. However, he was no less than shocked when Mellie called him up two hours ago and asked him to take her to her favorite Italian restaurant in town. He was actually just surprised at the fact that she had called him at all, after three days of them not seeing each other and only receiving small texts from her here and there. They had stopped talking less and less ever since Thanksgiving break, most likely because he didn't call her until two days after the holiday and even then they had only talked for about five minutes. But tonight she had called him out of the blue and asked him to take her to the very same restaurant that Olivia was having her double date at. He was thrilled that he would get to see Olivia, even though she would be with her 'date' for the night, and he had struggled to hide the happiness in voice when he said yes to Mellie but she hadn't noticed. The restaurant was semi-formal so he put on some beige slacks, a white dress shirt, and a black suit jacket and texted Olivia as he was getting ready and she was already on her way to the restaurant. He picked Mellie up from her dorm and by eight o' clock they were headed to the restaurant.

It was a pretty big place, big enough to be sectioned off into two connected rooms. Fitz scans the restaurant, worried that he won't be able to find the two couples, but a glimpse of red hair catches his eye and he sees Abby sitting next to a guy he assumes to be David. Across from David is Edison whose back is to him along with the person next to him, who has a full head of beautiful curls belonging to whom he can only assume is Olivia.

After an agonizing five minutes of waiting, a server takes Fitz and Mellie to their table and Fitz is finally able to see Olivia, who makes eye contact with him the second he comes into her view. Her mouth opens into an 'o' shape at the sight of him and he gives her a lopsided smile in return. He and Mellie are seated about twenty feet away from Olivia's table and Fitz is sure to sit on the side of the table that he can clearly see her from. As a server sets bread, salad, and water on the table, Fitz feels his phone vibrating in his pocket, indicating that he has a text message. He checks his phone and sees from Olivia: What the hell are u doing here?!

He quickly texts back: I'm having dinner just like u.

She replies: Don't play cute. I can't believe u followed me here.

Liv, I didn't follow u here. Mellie wanted to come. The whole world doesn't revolve around u ; )

He watches her click her screen off and put the phone on her lap and he does the same. He can see that she looks uncomfortable now and keeps glancing around until her gaze falls to him and she quickly looks away. Edison whispers something to her and she politely smiles back, making Fitz feel a hint of jealousy even though he can see that her gesture is fake. Edison looks in his direction and they make eye-contact. Edison gives him a suspicious look and Fitz gives him a stone-cold face in return. After a while, he sees Olivia starting to calm little by little. He and Mellie are ordering their food when he spots both Olivia and Abby get up and start towards his table. Fitz tries to look away but as soon as he sees Olivia fully, he can't tear his eyes away from her. She's wearing a plum-color, V-neck dress that teases cleavage and shapes her body into a perfect hourglass figure. He watches in amazement as she walks dutifully, swaying her hips from side to side and puts one flawless leg in front of the other, as her curly hair bounces with each step. She looks sexy as hell and Fitz can tell that he's not the only one being completely turned on by her, as he spots a few guys focusing even more on her from behind. He glares at them but knows that won't do anything because tonight she isn't his. Abby notices him and looks at him, confused, but he can only continue to give his full attention to Olivia as she passes right by him, making brief eye contact and then looking away again as both girls head to the restrooms. He breathes in the familiar scent of her perfume and closes his eyes in delight. It takes everything in him not to pull her onto his lap and engulf her lips and body in love right there for everyone to see. After Olivia and Abby go by, Fitz breathes in and out to calm himself down and imagines that his face must be ten shades redder than usual as he starts picturing Olivia again.

He whips out his phone and texts her: Can u go a day w/o looking like a goddess? I was so close to laying u down on this table in front of everyone. BC doesn't deserve to see u like that.

Olivia: Stop. Focus on ur date.

Fitz: I wish u were my date : ( Pls spend 2nite at the apt w/ me? I'm taking Mellie to her dorm after this.

Olivia: I can't. Abby would get suspicious. Plus I think we both know where that would lead & I'm not ready 4 that yet ; )

Fitz: Maybe I could change ur mind…

Olivia: Fitz!

Fitz: Kidding… : )

Olivia: Yeah, right

Fitz: ; )

After a few minutes, he texts her again: Are u coming out soon? I know girls take a long time in the restroom but I want to see my beautiful lady again.

Olivia: You'll see her when she's ready to come out, loverboy.

Fitz: Ur killing me

Olivia: Focus on the task at hand—ur date

Fitz reluctantly puts his phone away and directs his attention back to Mellie who's raving over how good the salad is and he genuinely agrees with her. They start to get into a dry conversation about their classes when Mellie abruptly stops and her face lights up as she looks past him, saying, "Hey, guys!"

Before Fitz can turn around, Olivia and Abby come into view and smile and greet back at Mellie and him. Fitz and Olivia make brief eye contact and he smiles politely at her. He immediately feels so at peace with her just standing a foot away from him, but he struggles to keep his hands to himself as realizes how much he's gotten used to just taking her into his arms.

"Well, what are you two doing here?" Mellie asks.

"We're on a double date," Abby answers, jerking her head towards the table where David and Edison are, seemingly having an awkward conversation.

"Oh, how nice!"

"Yeah, we should probably get back to them now, though, since we've been gone for a while now," Olivia says, inching away and taking a bit of Fitz's happiness with her.

"You guys have fun," she calls back and winks at Fitz, as she and Abby walk away. He tries to look away, knowing that if he watches Olivia sway her hips from side to side any longer, he's going to lose it.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The rest of dinner goes well, with Olivia only having to dodge looks from Fitz who can't keep his eyes off her, even with Mellie sitting right in front of him. She texts him a few times to cut it out but he only replies with some snarky comment and continues to do it anyway. Around a quarter to nine, the foursome get up to leave the restaurant after spending the last half hour talking about meaningless, funny things. Olivia is glad that the night will actually go off without a hitch—that is until they're all passing by Fitz and Mellie and Edison mutters something to Fitz.

Fitz raises his eyebrows and says in an offended tone, "Excuse me?"

Edison stops and goes back to Fitz, with Olivia, Abby, and David following him. "I said you should really learn how to mind your own business," Edison reiterates, looking down at Fitz like he's about to burst.

"And what do you mean by that?" Fitz asks, baiting him.

"Um, what's going on here?" Mellie asks, looking between Fitz and Edison for an answer but no one's paying attention to her as they are much more interested in the death glares being exchanged between the two hotheads. "Hey, weren't you at the gala—"

But before she can finish, Edison says to Fitz, his voice bubbling with fury, "I mean keep your attention on what's in front of you and stop candidly looking at other people's dates, asshole."

Edison takes Olivia's hand in his, getting ready to walk away but Fitz refuses to end the conversation. "Well, it didn't look like she was that interested in you, anyway—not that I was really paying attention," he says, with a shrug that's full of attitude.

"Well, I'm just warning you because it's rude and if it happens again you may not be so lucky."

Fitz chuckles at this, crossing his arms across over his chest. "Is that a threat? Because I don't think that you're such a saint. Just back off, man."

Edison nods with a spiteful smile and then mutters something just loud enough for Fitz to hear. And before Olivia knows what's happening, Fitz is out of his seat with the angriest of looks on his face and a hand tightly gripping Edison's arm.

"Whoa!" David says, stepping back along with Abby.

"Fitz, what the hell?" Mellie exclaims.

"Edison!" Olivia scolds, but he doesn't even hear her as he's also looking ready to punch Fitz out. It would be a pretty fair fight, since the both of them were 6'3" and almost 200 pounds of muscle, but they were already making a scene since several people were staring at them.

Neither of the guys makes an effort to back down until Olivia quietly says until Olivia softly says Fitz's name and she sees his jaw unclench. He looks at her and his eyes immediately soften. He lets go of Edison's arm and goes to sit back down. Edison is still staring menacingly at Fitz but Olivia takes his arm and pulls him towards the exit, saying firmly, "Come on, Edison, let's go."

He finally yields and they walk away. Olivia glances back and catches Fitz doing the same.

"I'm sorry," he mouths with an apologetic expression. She just shakes her head back at him and walks out.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Abby and David are quietly riding in his car, heading back to the university with the radio playing softly in the background, but Abby can hardly take the verbal silence between them and decides to break it.

"David, I'm really sorry for what happened back there. Everything was going so well and then—"

"Abby, it's okay," he tells her coolly.

"No, it's not. They ruined everything back there."

"You couldn't have known that your best friend's date would go all berserk and almost get into a fist fight with another guy. By the way, I know it's usually the male bystander's job to step in the middle of an altercation but I'm not ashamed to admit that that those two scared the crap out of me and I would've gladly let them fight it out."

She laughs at this and exhales a breath of relief.

"But really, Abby, besides that random scuffle, tonight was a lot fun. And I'd like to take you out on another date, this time just the two of us," he says, winking.

She smiles. "I'd really like that."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

"What the hell was that back there?" Olivia yells, as Edison cruises down the street, towards the university.

"He had been staring you the whole night and he wasn't even trying to hide it. He was asking for a fight," Edison tells her, shrugging.

"And you were just going to give it to him?"

"Yes, and I would've beat his ass. I don't even understand why you're so angry, I expected you to be grateful that someone would stand up for you."

"I am grateful, I just think that could've been handled better, without all the macho theatrics."

He grunts. "'macho theatrics'? That's what you think that was?"

Olivia sighs and shakes her head, not wanting to fight with him over this.

"I'm guessing this means you won't be coming home with me."

She cringes at the idea, but doesn't do a very good job of hiding it as Edison sees the gesture and says, "Alright, then, I see how you really feel."

"Edison…" She doesn't quite feel guilty but also doesn't want him to know about how she truly feels.

"I knew that you weren't going to, even if things had gone well. I could tell that you didn't even want to go on this date with me. Why did you ask me to go with you?"

She shrugs in response, giving up. Edison nods acceptingly and they drive the rest of the way in an awkward silence.

They arrive back at the university and Edison starts to get out of the car to open her door for her but she tells him that she's fine and gets out of the car. As soon as she shuts the door, he takes off without waiting for another second. Olivia glances around and sees a few groups of people walking and hanging out nearby. She looks out at the parking lot and the road for David's car but she doesn't see it anywhere. She walks towards her dorm, deciding to wait for Abby there. She doesn't know what she's going to do when she has to face Abby after ruining her night.

Olivia changes out of her dress and shoes and into her flannel pjs, feeling relieved at the pressure taken off her feet as she returns to her normal height. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she climbs into bed and turns on the TV to take her mind off of things. She starts flipping through channels but after a few minutes she gets a call from one of the last people she wanted to hear from at the moment.

"You should be on your date right now," she says dryly.

"I had to apologize first. I'm guessing you're back at your dorm and alone now, right?"

"Yes, but we can talk about this later, Fitz. Go back to Mellie and finish your night," she tells him, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"I won't be able to think straight knowing you're still so mad at me."

"I'm not mad, I'm just—this was Abby's night and now it's ruined, and you almost blew our whole plan to shreds all out of jealousy."

"I'm sorry but it wasn't just jealousy. You don't know what he said to me about you, Liv, he told me he couldn't wait to—"

"Yeah, I know…I heard." She heard a little bit of what Edison said but not enough to make sense of it—and she was fine with that. The last thing she wanted to be reminded of was that disgusting pig Edison.

"I couldn't just sit there and let him say any dirty, demeaning comment about you that crossed his mind—even if it was just to get back at me. Do you think he remembered me from the gala?"

"I don't know, he didn't really let up about anything. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

She hears him sigh on the other end. "Alright. Goodnight, Livvie."

"Goodnight, Fitz."

About an hour later, while Olivia is still watching TV, Abby finally comes through the door, looking like she's floating on cloud 9. She notices Olivia and greets happily, "Hey, Liv."

Olivia smiles cautiously and starts apologizing, "Abby, I'm so sorry for what happened tonight—"

"Don't even start, it's totally fine, Liv. He asked me out on another date—this time with just the two of us," she says, sitting down upright on her bed and kicking off her shoes.

"Seriously? That's great! He's really is a good guy and he's perfect for you."

"I think so, too. I really hope this works out."

"It will work out. You guys are literally like two sides of the same coin—you fit so well together. Way better than you ever were with that jackass Paul."

Abby rolls her eyes but keeps the giddy smile on her face. "Don't even remind me. David's an even better kisser…that's why we kind of took our time getting back here." She blushes, something Olivia's only seen Abby do about five times in all the time she's known her and continues, "We almost did it in the back of his car but he thought that our first time together should be a little less 'cramped'."

They laugh at this and Olivia suddenly finds herself feeling like she's back in middle school, giggling about crushes at a sleepover, except she can't talk about hers—not yet anyways. Abby gets up and changes out her dress into pajamas. She goes into the bathroom to complete the same nightly ritual as Olivia and then gets into bed. The goofy smile she was wearing before has diminished as she sighs and then asks plainly, "Are you still involved with Fitz in anyway?"

Olivia flips over in her bed to face Abby, trying to hide her shock and panic, and says, "What makes you ask that?"

Abby cocks an eyebrow at her. "He wouldn't stop staring at you or glaring at Edison the whole time…and I saw you give him a few nervous smiles here and there."

Olivia takes a long breath, not replying and Abby knows that it's true. "I saw him salivating over you when we walked by him, he was as red as a tomato, and I know his man junk was going all sorts of crazy at the sight of you—he probably kept his eyes on you more than he did on Mellie while we were there. He really likes you, but my question is, if that's the case, why isn't he man enough to break things off with Mellie and put you both out of your misery? You want to be with him, too, don't you?"

Olivia sighs. "Yes, but it's not that simple. There are other factors involved."

Abby rolls her eyes. "That's BS and you know it. If he really cares about you, he won't string you along. Even with all these 'factors' in place, if he really gave a damn about your feelings and how this situation—you guys seeing each other in secret, I presume—is hurting you, he would wait to be with you until he could break up with Mellie. I know, you probably don't want to hear what I think but just like you told me, Liv, you deserve someone who will treat you right."

"He does treat me right," Olivia counters quietly.

Abby gives her a sympathetic look. "He's on a date with another girl right now, his _official_ girlfriend, the one he doesn't have to hide and be with only in the shadows. That's a pretty messed up definition of treating the person you claim to love right. I'm not trying to get up in your business, I just really don't want to see you get hurt because you shouldn't be the sidechick, Olivia, your worth so much more."

Olivia wants to say something defensive back but knows she would just sound like some bimbo in denial. Was she in denial? Was this plan of hers and Fitz's really going to work? Would he keep his promises to her? Or was she really just the sidechick that would end up getting thrown to the side when he got bored with her? So far that's what everyone who found out about their relationship had said. No one believed in them and she couldn't really blame them, because from the outside looking in, it really did seem like he was using her. Olivia tries to push away these cynical thoughts and eventually drifts off to sleep but the nagging feeling of doubt continues to stay in the back of her mind.

**Hmm…foreshadowing, maybe, don't panic though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Did you like Abby and David? How do you feel about Edison? Or Abby's warnings to Olivia? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	11. It's the Most Terrible Time of the Year

**A lot of you are questioning why Olivia can't just stand up to her father and be with Fitz but Olivia is a young girl who's just starting her life in the real world, so as much as she hates her father and loves Fitz, she's scared to deviate from his plans for her because she's afraid of change. And I just want to remind you that Eli isn't a very nice guy—that's all I can say for now. Oh, and this chapter and the next is going to be very holiday-oriented—Yep, Christmas in August! : ) Also, this chapter might be a tough one for some of you so brace yourselves.**

**Chapter 11: It's the Most Terrible Time of the Year**

"Liv, where are you going?" Fitz asks as Olivia busily packs her things into one of her two suitcases.

"I'm leaving," she tells him, barely acknowledging him.

"You don't have to work today, where—"

"I just need a break, Fitz, okay? I don't want to do this anymore—I don't think I _can_ do this anymore," she says, glancing up at him.

He gets a better look at her face and her bloodshot eyes tell him she had been crying, making his heart break at the sight and a pang of horrible guilt hit him. "Liv…come on, please stay. I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I was tired and stressed out and I took some of that out on you. Please, Olivia, I'm sorry."

She continues to pack up and then closes the clasp on the suitcase, still disregarding him. "I'll break up with Mellie right now if that's what you want."

She stops and looks up at him. "Would you really?"

His eyes dart away from hers and he swallows nervously, hesitating. "Yes…"

Olivia nods, her lip quivering as she see through his answer. "But I don't think you want to because you know your father would brand you for it and you're not ready for that. I also don't want to be the reason for your failure in life," she says wryly.

"Olivia, wait—let's just talk about this," he begs, seeing that he's losing her but he's too late.

She shakes her head no and leaves her key to the apartment on the table then makes her way toward the door. Her voice breaks as she quietly tells him, "Have a merry Christmas, Fitz." And with that, she's gone.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

4 days earlier

Olivia had been spending the past two weeks working at one of her father's law firm branches every day after school, but now that it was Christmas break, she was all on board until she went to her mom's for the holiday. Eli had wanted her to get a feel for the day to day life of lawyer in the office, so that's where she was—training under different people with different positions at the firm who seemed to be the best at their job. For the first four days, she had worked as a law clerk, which involved a whole lot of research and reading, which Olivia didn't mind too much, but for the past few days she had been shadowing under one of the firm's associate lawyers, James Novak, who was spunky and made the sometimes monotonous work they were doing fun—and he also happened to be her only friend so far. They were going over an actual murder case—a rich technology mogul who had been found dead by a gunshot wound to the chest by his wife, who happened to be 21 years his junior and they had only been married for 7 months, and his daughter, who accused the wife of hiring a hitman to take out the husband, which seemed to be matching up so far.

They were in the beginning stages of the case and had just spent the last hour interviewing the daughter, with James asking the questions and Olivia taking down notes. They were now in James's office, just talking casually after discussing the interview with the daughter and going over notes.

"So, Liv, I went to this new café that just opened last week and the food is really good—and if you're worried about eating healthy, they have plenty of salads."

Olivia nods. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Oh, major hottie at one o' clock," he says, looking past her with a sly smile on his face. Olivia rolls her eyes as she turns around, saying, "James, must you point out every—"

Her eyes make contact with Fitz's and he gives her a goofy smile which she returns with a mystified expression. He makes his way over to her with a large paper bag in hand and enters the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, standing up to face him.

"What, no kiss hello?" He says, giving her a charming grin.

She pecks his lips. "What are you doing here?" She asks again, ushering him further into the room, like that will stop anyone from seeing him, even though the room and the rest of the office is only separated by a glass window.

"Relax," he tells her, sliding his arm around her waist and kissing her back. "I just brought you lunch. I would've taken you out but I have to be back at my dad's office in thirty minutes, so I hope this will do."

"Oh…thank you." She gives him a small smile and then looks back at James apologetically. He smiles at her understandingly. "It's alright, Liv."

"Maybe tomorrow?"

He nods. Fitz looks apprehensively at James and seems to cling a little harder onto Olivia. She introduces the two of them, "Fitz, this is James Novak, one of the associate lawyers here and my mentor for the past few days. James, this is Fitz, my…"

"Boyfriend," Fitz and James both say at the same time. Fitz squints at James and James rolls his eyes. "Gee, Liv, you couldn't tell me that you already had someone? I wouldn't have been pestering you every five minutes about every hot guy that walked in. You already seem to have a real charmer." He winks at Fitz.

Fitz quirks an eyebrow, trying to make sense of what James just said and did but James just comes right out and tells him, "I'm gay—so you can stop giving me the evil eye since I don't swing that way." He jerks his head towards Olivia, who laughs.

Fitz cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Oh, um, of course, I mean—sorry…"

"It's cool," James tells him, shrugging. Olivia finds it so comical that Fitz would feel threatened by James—yes, they had been spending a lot of time together in the past few days but James didn't hold a candle to Fitz—he was short and scrawny and a little dorky, not to mention that he was gay, something that Olivia noticed from a mile away. And she wasn't being shallow in her opinion of James having nothing on Fitz—but Fitz was just the one for her so there was really no other guy that would ever compare to him in her eyes.

Olivia almost lets Fitz stay longer but she knows that's it be better for him to leave. Her father had called her her first few days to see how things were going but he hadn't come by yet to physically check up on her. Though, she just feels in her gut that Fitz needs to leave as soon as possible. "You should probably get going," she tells him with a sorry expression. "Thanks again for the lunch, though."

He nods. "You're welcome, baby. I think you'll like what I got you."

She smiles at him and starts to pull away from him to sit back down but he doesn't let her out of his embrace. She looks back at him and before she can ask him why he won't let her go, he puts his lips to hers softly and then slipping his tongue into hers for a passionate kiss for several seconds, disregarding anyone around them.

She pulls back, feeling the butterflies in her stomach that she gets almost every time he does that and especially now since they're in public. "Okay, you really need to go now."

"Alright," he says, pouting but gives her a small smile. "Love you."

"I love you, too," she says back, as he releases her and leaves.

Olivia and James watch as Fitz walks past all the offices and takes an elevator, looking back at Olivia, giving her a loving smile, which she returns. Once the elevator doors close, she hers James sigh and say longingly, "I want one."

She looks back at him and laughs. "He's not a puppy, James."

"_Mmhmm_. I'll be back in an hour. Enjoy your food," he tells her, winking and leaving to find someone to go to lunch with.

Olivia opens the brown paper bag and pulls out a plate of smoked baked Dijon salmon with a small salad and a side of asparagus, which surprises her because she was just expecting a nice sandwich, not a fancy meal. On the cover of the plate is a sticky note that reads: _Make sure you eat your greens ; ) — F_

She chuckles at the message and digs into the food, which happens to be the best salmon she's had in her life. She's about to start on the salad as she's checking her e-mail when she hears, "Olivia."

She looks up to see her father standing in the doorway. She nearly chokes on her food, thinking about how Fitz was standing in that same spot only ten minutes before but she quickly recovers. "Hi, Dad."

"How is work?"

"Good," she replies simply. "I've been working on a case with James Novak, one of the associate lawyers you set me up with and we've gotten a lot done."

He nods. "That's good. I was going to take you to lunch since I was here for a meeting and I wanted to talk with you about something, but I see that you're already eating."

"Um, yeah, a friend brought it over," she tells him and it technically isn't a lie since she did consider Fitz a friend, one that she liked to make out with on a regular basis.

Eli looks at the bag and raises his eyebrows. "The Dove House. That's a fancy friend."

Olivia glances at the receipt that's stapled to the paper bag and sees that her one meal cost $30. She's also shocked that Fitz would by her such an expensive meal, even if he did have the money.

"Well, maybe tomorrow, then."

She nods. "Maybe."

And with that he leaves, striding down the hallway and Olivia's heart rate returns to a normal pace soon after he's gone. Her gut had been right about Fitz needing to leave ASAP, especially when her father had had a meeting somewhere in the building while Fitz was not only still there but hadn't even tried to hide his PDA with her. It had been a close one but they were lucky. Olivia can only imagine what would've erupted between her and her father if he had seen anything.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After getting off from work around 5pm, Olivia went gone to the apartment where she had been sleeping since she and Fitz went on vacation from school, and after lounging around and doing nothing for a few hours, she decided to make dinner for her and Fitz, but as she was finishing, he called, telling her that he wouldn't be there until pretty late so she shouldn't wait up for him. Of course Olivia had been disappointed but she understood since his father had also been taking advantage of their break from school to help Fitz get further into the world of law as well as introduce him to some of his business and political contacts. After eating and watching a little news, she decided to lie in bed and start reading a book she thought would be fairly interesting and would help her with waiting for Fitz in case he came earlier than he said he would but she fell asleep. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to the rhythm of his breathing and heartbeat and his arms around her, but when she woke up in the morning, he was gone again. But he had made her some pancakes and eggs with an 'I love you' note, which she was thankful for, especially since his cooking had been getting better.

But she hated that she was barely seeing him now, especially because previous to their vacation they had been spending almost every day together. So, she decided to return his favor from the day before and ask him out to lunch—she also really didn't want to spend the hour with her father discussing whatever he had in mind.

"Hey, Liv, what's up?" Fitz asks over the phone, sounding somewhat distracted.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch with me around 12:30. Since I have an hour break, I was thinking that we could just get something at this quaint sandwich shop not too far away." She pauses and adds in a persuasive tone, "I'll pay this time."

She hears Fitz sigh. "Oh…um, sorry, Livvie, I can't. Mellie just asked me to have lunch with her. I'm driving to meet her as we speak."

Olivia feels her heart drop into her stomach at this, similarly to the way she felt when she saw Mellie standing outside the apartment with Fitz. She swallows and quickly covers up her disappointment. "Oh. That's—that's alright…" She wants to tell him to just blow Mellie off but she decides to say nothing more.

"I'm really sorry, baby. I would've loved to have lunch with you but…" _She comes first because she's your real girlfriend_, Liv can't help thinking as a feeling of bitterness starts to creep in. But she brushes it off, saying, "No, it's fine. I'll see you later tonight, anyway, so it's okay, I guess."

"Well, actually, that's another thing that I was planning on telling you," he says slowly. "My father sent me down to Fresno to go meet with some of his reps tonight and tomorrow morning. It's a three-hour drive so I thought it'd be best to just stay at a hotel for the night…I'll be back tomorrow night, though. And you know the apartment's all yours if you want to sleep there still."

"Yeah, okay. Well, I'll talk to you later, then," she tells him quickly, needing to get off the phone before she got too upset or angry.

"I'm sorry, Liv, I'll call you later tonight, okay? I love you."

"Mmhmm. You, too. Bye, Fitz."

"Bye, Livvie."

She had been feeling confident about asking him since things had been going so well between them but this confidence had taken a huge blow when he shot her down. This whole back and forth was messing with feelings too much. One minute she felt like the luckiest, most special, loved person in the world by him, like the day before when he had brought her lunch, and then other times, like this, she was reminded that he wasn't really all hers—and that fact hurt more and more every time it hit her. She had fixed this arrangement of theirs, but she wasn't sure that she could handle it until the end of the school year.

James walks into the room as she hangs up. "Hey, Liv, you going to lunch with anyone?"

She shrugs. "Yeah, my dad."

"Oh…you seem kind of down about it," he says cautiously. "Are you alright?"

She stares back him for a long while before, saying, "Actually, I really don't want to have lunch with my Dad since he always finds a way to put me in a bad mood and I really don't need that right now. So, yeah, I'll join you—if that's what you were going to ask."

He gives her a mystified look but nods, smirking. "Yeah, okay. I don't mind stealing you away from your father—as long as I don't get fired."

She smiles. "You'll be fine."

James takes Olivia to the café he had been raving about the day before. They both decide to go with some mushroom soup, which is delicious but Olivia doesn't feel very hungry.

"Are you sure you're okay?" James asks. "It's been twenty minutes since we got our soup and you've only taken a few sips."

"It's good, I'm just…I don't know."

"College girl drama? Because I can totally help. Who stole whose boyfriend?" he asks with faux seriousness.

Olivia laughs. "That sounds a little more high school."

"Trust me, it continues into college and well into adulthood with less drama but more intensity." He continues to look at her as the smile leaves her face and asks in all seriousness. "Are you really okay?"

"I…can I ask you something?" She says hesitantly.

"Of course."

She looks down, feeling self-conscious about what she's about to ask him and takes a deep breath. "So…I have this friend who is really in love with this guy and he says he's in love with her too, but he already has a girlfriend but my friend and the guy really want to be together so they date in secret because the guy's parents wants him to stay with his girlfriend and my friend's parents want her to date someone else. So, my question is…what do you think they should do? Because I've been pouring over this situation for so long and I've advised her and helped her come up with a plan for them to be together eventually but I don't think it will work because every time she sees the guy with his girlfriend, I can just tell that she feels terrible inside even though she tries to hide it."

James stares back at her with a troubled expression and Olivia can see that he's trying to look more into what she's telling him.

"I know it's really random for me to bring this up now but, um, she's a really close friend and it's just been bugging me. And I thought I'd ask you since everyone else who's found out has been pretty judgmental and jumped to conclusions, but you don't know her so I thought you would have a more unbiased opinion."

He nods and says, "Well, that's a pretty complicated situation. It kinda reminds me of Romeo and Juliet, doomed star-crossed lovers—I mean, I know this is real life, though, and it's serious, and I can actually relate since something similar happened to me with a guy I had secretly dated because he was ashamed to come out of the closet and I finally just broke it off. And I think I made the right decision because the way things were going with us, I don't think he would've ever come out, and it really did hurt a lot every time we had to sneak around just to be together, but I did eventually find some partners that accepted me and themselves for who we are. So, if you really want to know what I think, your friend should really just let it go, even if his parents disagree with him going for her—if he really loved her, he would choose her. It's his life, anyways."

"But what if it's kind of the girl's fault, too? What if she told him to stay with the girlfriend for a little while longer so that he doesn't piss off his parents or hers—at least until they could find a way to be together in the open?"

He shrugs. "Then the decision is up to her but in my case, I broke it off because I knew he couldn't make up his mind, I knew he wasn't going to choose me over his family or the perfect life he had and that was okay since there are always bigger and better things."

"So, you would say he's just stringing her along, even if he's told her that he does want to break up with the girlfriend?"

"Maybe he sincerely wants to but guys have sidechicks all the time so it wouldn't be that much of a shocker if he got tired after a while and called it quits with her. In my opinion, I think she should break it off before he hurts her. There are 7 billion other people on this planet—I'm sure she could find someone a lot better."

There were 7 billion other people on this planet, but Olivia only wanted one and in her eyes no one better would come along. She didn't doubt that she could eventually find someone who would treat her right and give her all of the love that she wanted and deserved but she didn't want just anyone to come along and sweep her off her feet. Someone had already done that—she wanted Fitz. She sighs and then remembers what Abby said to her. "Well, what if she decided to break it off with him until he was ready to be with her?"

"That could work, too. It would really tell her where their relationship stands and how serious he is about her. And he also wouldn't be dating two girls. If he wants her, he should earn her and be with her the right way."

Olivia slowly nods. "Thanks, James…you give good advice. Maybe she can finally resolve this."

"I'm glad I could be of help." He smiles at her and she does the same. They go back to eating as Olivia thinks over what James said and tries not to think about how Fitz is with Mellie at that moment.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

By 1:30, Olivia and James are back at the office and get back to work. Olivia surprisingly doesn't see Eli again so the rest of her day goes peacefully and she leaves around 5pm again. She hates how lonely it is at the apartment without Fitz and is thankful that she'll be spending most of her day and maybe the night over at Abby's house the next day for their traditional holiday get-together. After eating, Olivia takes a shower and sits on the couch, watching the news and some shows she recorded before deciding to turn in early for bed. She feels cold so she throws on one of Fitz's sweatshirts which makes her feel better physically and mentally but her thoughts also start to drift towards the discussion she and James had earlier and she doesn't know how to feel other than confused. As if she willed him to with her thoughts, her phone flashes and she sees that Fitz is calling. And instead of her face lighting up at the sight, for the first time she frowns.

"Hello," she answers tiredly.

"Hey, baby. I was just calling like I said I would. I just got finished meeting with some more of my dad's friends so now I'm heading to the hotel." He sounds just as tired but says longingly, "I wish I was with you tonight."

"Oh, yeah. Me, too…" she says awkwardly.

"Are you at the apartment?"

"Mmhmm," she says, and then there's an uncomfortable silence between them that usually would've been filled by Olivia saying something flirty to him but she wasn't feeling it.

Fitz finally breaks the quiet. "Are you okay, Liv?"

"Yeah, I'm just…tired. It was a long day." Not really a lie.

"Oh. I know, it was for me, too. If you want we can just talk in the morning after my meeting. And you have the day off, too, don't you? As soon as I get back I'm all yours."

Olivia perks up a little at his last words but remembers that she has to go over to Abby's tomorrow. "I guess we could hang out for a little bit but around five or six, I'm going over to Abby's for a while, I don't know for how long."

"Okay. Well, we can just spend a little time together before then. I'm going to get to be with you for our entire Christmas break so we'll spend plenty of time together then. Speaking of Christmas, I have one heck of a present for you and I know you're going to love it."

She genuinely smiles at this and thinks about the present that she got a few weeks ago for him. "Hmm, we'll see. I think you'll like mine, too."

She can hear him smile into the phone and then he says dreamily in a way that warms her soul, "I love you."

She doesn't hesitate to say back, "I love you, too."

"I'll call you tomorrow. My baby needs her beauty sleep."

Olivia chuckles and can't help but flirt back. "Yeah, so does mine."

He laughs. "I'll try and get as much as I can. Goodnight, Livvie."

"Goodnight, Fitz."

Olivia hangs up and looks up at the ceiling, trying to wipe off the grin on her face and the warm, satisfied feeling throughout her body when she was just mad at him only minutes ago. She thinks about how someone can have so much of an effect on her and wonders if he feels the same way. She slips her nose under his sweatshirt and breathes in his scent, making her feel all tingly inside. She finally decides to put her critical and confusing thoughts of Fitz to rest and falls asleep shortly after.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Sunday morning, Fitz woke up early to attend his father's meeting at 10, but a quarter of the way through he was starting to notice that he really didn't even have to be there since he had no idea what was being discussed since his father didn't really brief him and he was pretty sure Big Gerry had just brought him along to show him off as the next heir to the Grant dynasty, even though his father couldn't be more disappointed in him.

The meeting ended up going for an hour and a half but Fitz was able to keep himself occupied with thoughts of Olivia. When he wasn't working with his father or being horsed around in every which way, she was on his mind—her smile, her voice, her kisses, the way her soft skin felt under his fingers, and how much he craved to hold her again. He could tell that she had been distant from him ever since she asked him to go to lunch with her and he had to decline because of Mellie, which he felt horrible about, but they both understood that that's how it would have to be for just a little while longer. However, Mellie was spending Christmas with her family and would be skiing in Italy for the next two weeks so Fitz's gift for Olivia would work out perfectly, if she accepted it, which he was pretty sure she would since it was something she told him she had wanted for a long time, so maybe he could make things up to her this way.

When the meeting was done, Fitz already had his stuff packed in his car and was ready to drive back to Berkeley to go home to spend some time with her before she went to Abby's. But just as he's starting his car, his father quickly walks over to him and motions for him to roll down the window.

"Yeah, Dad?" Fitz asks, not even trying to hide his impatience. "I'm kinda in hurry to get somewhere."

"Well, I'm sure it can wait. Why don't you come and sit down with me and some of my associates for a meal at Frisco's?"

Fitz shakes his head. "No, I really need to get going and besides, I just sat down with you and them for almost two hours. It's a Sunday, I'm tired, and I want to go home."

Big Gerry scowls. "Could you try for once not to sound like a spoiled cry baby and do something good for your future?"

Fitz rolls his eyes and thinks that his father is about to go another tangent about how he's the worst son in the world and a disappointment to the family, but he just continues with, "These guys really want to know more about you, _from_ you. One of them actually has connections with two of the best law firms in this country and if you impress him, he could put in a good word for you. Why would you want to pass that up?"

Fitz does consider it as a really good opportunity but his body is aching desperately for Olivia. "I don't want to pass it up, it's just—"

"It's just what?" Big Gerry asks irritably. "What could be more important right now than your career?"

Fitz glances away, not knowing how to answer, but Big Gerry cuts into his thoughts, "You need to start focusing on something, Fitzgerald. I thought setting you up with Mellie because she is focused would rub off on you and I can see it has somewhat, but after this year, you are done with schooling and are joining the big leagues. After that there's no more screwing around. You need to get your crap together. So, you are coming to lunch with me and you are going to be on your best behavior for these men. That's an order." And with that, Big Gerry walks away, before Fitz can reach through the window and deck him.

Fitz lets out a groan of anger and punches the side of the door. Fitz had always been a mild-tempered person but his father had the power to bring out the worst in him, especially when he treated him like a little child. He would normally talk to Olivia when he pissed him off but he doubted that she would want to talk to, much less console him when he told her he probably wouldn't get to see her before she went to Abby's house. He didn't want to call her and hear the sadness and disappointment in her voice but he also couldn't just say nothing. He decides to shoot her a text telling her the bad news and then turns on the car to head to the restaurant but he hears his phone ringing and checks, thinking that it's Olivia, but it turns out to be Mellie. He reluctantly answers, just as the call is about to go to voicemail, something he would later regret.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia decides to head over to Abby's early, since Fitz told her around noon that he wouldn't be able to make it before she left. She would've been upset if he had called her and told her but now she was angry and hurt that all he did was send her a text, like he just remembered her on a whim. He said he'd be back by that night but she wasn't sure if he would even do that and she didn't want to spend a third night alone without him, so she decided to bring along a few things and just sleep over at Abby's for the night. She would be able to still make it to work the next day. Besides, she just needed a break from all of this.

She drove to Abby's feeling down and her best friend of 8 years could easily tell that something was wrong even though Olivia tried to mask it for all her friends' sake. This was the sixth year in a row that they were having a Christmas get-together, a ritual that Olivia and Abby had started in middle school on the Sunday before Christmas. At first it was just Olivia but eventually Harrison and a few close friends from their high school came and they would just watch Christmas movies and stuff themselves with food until they felt like they were going to explode. It was always a fun time and as Olivia walked into Abby's house and saw Harrison and two other friends, Amber and Jason, from her high school cornily dressed up in the worst Christmas sweaters possible, she felt the holiday spirit coming back to her.

Abby's mom had prepared a ton of goods for everyone because she just so happened to be the best baker in the world and laid them out for everyone to dig into. Abby's parents stayed for a little while and talked with everyone just to find out what's been going on in their lives but they eventually went upstairs and left the kids to do their own thing. They all sat comfortably around the living room with their snacks, holiday-themed caramel popcorn being Olivia's choice along with some hot chocolate, and started watching a few of their old-time favorite Christmas movies, like _How the Grinch Stole Christmas _and _Home Alone_. At about 10pm, Harrison and Jason leave after wishing everyone 'Happy Holidays'.

Olivia finds out that Amber is staying over as well so they all reposition themselves, Olivia and Abby taking the couches and Amber using her sleeping bag and put in another movie. After finishing that one around midnight, the girls turn the lights back on and just start talking.

"So, how's your job at your dad's law firm going?" Abby asks, nipping on a chocolate-covered pretzel.

"It's great," Olivia replies simply. "I'm getting a lot good experience and some of it's a lot more interesting than you'd think. I'm currently helping one of the associate lawyers with a murder case."

"Ooo...look at you, Nancy Drew," Amber teases, wiggling her eyebrows at Olivia, making them all laugh.

"I know. Soon she's going to be wearing a trench coat with one of those funny hats. I opt you go for all white."

"Yeah, all white looks good on you," Amber agrees and she and Abby bob their heads together at Olivia like they're her stylists or something. Olivia loved Amber, even though she barely saw her anymore. She probably could've gotten into Berkeley like she, Abby, and Harrison, but she had decided to go to UC Davis because they had a good undergrad program for microbiology, which is what her heart had called out to. They had all been good friends in high school, especially Amber and Abby who were so similar personality-wise, except that Amber was more of jokester and Abby had more of a sharp, smart mouth.

Olivia laughs again. "Guys, I'm not a detective. It's an interesting case but all I did was take notes while one of the witnesses gave an account of what happened."

"Mmhmm…whatever you say, 007," Amber says, digging into her overnight bag and pulling out some of her things. "So, Abs, I heard that you have a new boo-thang. Care to share something?"

Abby says in a completely serious manner, "Besides him being super good in bed…no, not really." Amber and Olivia raise their eyebrows at her and they all burst out into laughter and Abby smiles slyly as her cheeks turn a shade as red as her hair.

"Gee, someone didn't beat around the bush but will you at least give a name?"

"David. He goes to Berkeley, too."

"Hmm, do you have any pics? Let's see this sexy beast," she exclaims, garnering more giggles out of Olivia and Abby.

She shows them a selfie of her and David at what looks to be them in the park as she lovingly kisses his cheek and he rolls his eyes.

"Aww, you guys look so cute together. And how about you, Liv? How have you and Jake been?"

"Oh…we broke up after the summer. It's a long story that I rather not get into but I'm doing fine."

"Oh, okay. Is there anybody else you're interested in?" Amber asks, sounding way too giddy. Abby cuts Olivia a knowing look and Olivia glances away.

She slowly shakes her head. "No, not really. No one's really caught my eye, I guess…"

"Oh."

"How about you and Eric?" Olivia asks, trying to direct the attention away from her. Amber goes on a long spiel about her relationship and after she's done she tells them, "I'm gonna go change and wash these holiday sweets out of my teeth so brb."

She heads to the bathroom, leaving Olivia and Abby alone in a slightly awkward silence until Olivia decides to break it. "So, what's been going on with you?"

Abby shrugs. "Mmm, well, I've been hanging around the house a lot and spending time with my parents…and you know, David," she adds, with a smirk.

Olivia nods and smiles. She absentmindedly checks her phone like she has for the past several hours since Fitz apologized for not being able to show up, even though it's now off. She was still mad at him but she texted him to see if he had safely gotten to the apartment and he replied back yes around six. She texted him a few more times after that but when she didn't get any response, she decided to turn her phone off so that she wouldn't continue to feel bad if he didn't reply. She didn't know what the hell was going on with him lately.

"How have you been doing?" Abby asks, carefully looking at Olivia.

Olivia can figure out that Abby is asking about both her and Fitz. "Alright, I guess."

There's another uncomfortable silence before Abby just bursts out in hushed voice with, "Look, I may not approve of what you're doing but if, you know, ever need someone to talk to about things, I'm here for you."

Olivia really doesn't want to discuss Fitz right now but smiles gratefully at her friend. "Thanks." Abby returns the gesture and they move onto discuss other stuff until Amber comes back. They turn the lights off and slowly one by one fall asleep.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After a Monday at the law firm, Olivia wishes James an early Merry Christmas since she won't see him again until the new year and leaves around her usual departure time. She goes to the apartment to wait for Fitz, who said he'll be there around 8pm or so, and is happy that in two days she'll get to spend some time with her family. She and Fitz were planning on celebrating Christmas together on the 24th, since they still hadn't resolved things with her family about their relationship and the last thing Olivia wanted was to have an all-out war going on during what was supposed to be the happiest time of the year. Fitz also mentioned that his father surprisingly wanted to do something with him this year, but he had promised that she and him would have plenty of time to spend together since they didn't go back to school until the middle of January. But Olivia was starting to feel like she needed a break from their relationship and from him, maybe just to think and get her thoughts organized. Maybe she needed a long break until things with Mellie could be resolved. She just needed a break.

Fitz comes around at 8pm like he said he would, ready to collapse at any second but happy to see Olivia. He immediately takes her in his arms and hugs her so tightly that he lifts her off the ground. The familiar feeling of peace, satisfaction, and completeness comes back to her, making her realize just how hard it will be to tell him that she wants to call it quits for a while. She gives him a plate of dinner that she made for them but just sits with him because she ate earlier. They plainly talk about their day and then around 9, they go lay down together in the bedroom and watch some TV.

After about thirty minutes, Olivia comes out of Fitz's embrace, sitting up and looking at him as she says, "Fitz, can we talk about something?"

"Yeah." He glances up at her, still laying down.

Olivia takes a deep breath and then exhales. "I've been thinking a lot lately about us and this relationship and it's just…I don't know how much longer I can do this, I'm starting to get tired of playing second to Mellie."

"But you're not second to her. You're the most important person in my life," he tells her, grabbing the TV remote and turning down the volume of the TV.

"You keep saying that but…I just don't know how all this is really going to go."

He props himself on his elbows. "Liv, we have a plan, remember? I'm going to break up with Mellie at the end of the school year—that's only four and a half months away now."

"I know, but this is starting to get really hard for me. I still think that we should stick to the plan but until then I think we should take a break."

"What do you mean?" He says, squeezing his eyebrows together in genuine confusion.

"We should stop doing this—acting like girlfriend and boyfriend behind closed doors and then pretending there's nothing going on in front of everyone else."

He sits up and raises his eyebrows. "_Acting_? This isn't an act, Liv, you know I want to be with you. I love you. Where is all this coming from all of a sudden?"

"Look, I want to be with you, too, more than anything, but this isn't the right way to do it. What if something goes wrong with the plan and you still can't break up with her four and a half months from now? And even then, now to May seems like a short amount of time for you but it feels like forever for me. I know you love me but—" Olivia spots a jacket hanging on a chair catches her eye but she knows it's not hers.

"Liv?"

She gets up and grabs the jacket off the chair, holding it up. "What is this?"

Fitz looks away with a regretful look on his face and sighs. "It's just a jacket."

"This isn't mine…" She comes to the realization and says slowly. "It's Mellie's, isn't it?"

He stays silent and continues to look away from her with the same ashamed expression, letting Olivia know that it's true.

"Why is it in the bedroom, though?...Did she sleep here?" Olivia asks, horrified.

He sighs again, admitting, "It was only one night, she left in the morning."

She nods with mock acceptance, growing angrier.

"She just showed up and I tried to keep her out but she insisted she come in. We were just going to have dinner but she decided to stay for the night, and like I said, she left right in the morning."

"So, this happened while I was Abby's?" She checks, which is confirmed by another guilty look from him and she murmurs, "_How convenient_…"

He stands up, facing her on the other side of the bed. "Liv…that's not—"

"You couldn't have just sent me a text, telling me that she was here with you. Or were you not even going to tell me? I've been here for the past two days by myself, waiting for you to get back and you kept blowing me off because of work or something else, but as soon as you get back, it's Mellie that you have time for. Of course, it is, though. She is your real girlfriend."

"Liv, stop, you know that's not what I was thinking."

"No, I don't know."

"I didn't think that I should tell you she was here because nothing happened between the two of us. I know I said it would be a while before she started coming here but she just showed up unexpectedly. My hands were tied. I couldn't have done anything else without making her suspicious."

"Your hands were tied? So she boxed you into a corner about sleeping here. What, did you guys have sex, too? Were your hands tied there as well, Fitz?" She asks, raising her voice.

He puts his hands up in defense. "Whoa! Wait a second, Olivia—"

But she continues, "I mean, you guys were probably doing it a lot before I came into the picture. Wouldn't it also make her suspicious if it all suddenly just stopped? It would've been tough for you, too, being a guy and all. Of course, you guys have been screwing…" Olivia shakes her head to herself, wondering how she could've been so stupid and naïve.

"You're being ridiculous. I'm not screwing Mellie and I haven't done anything with her or anybody else for that matter since I met you and I'm keeping it that way! I don't know what has you so bent out of shape suddenly but can we cool it with the conspiracies because nothing even remotely close to what you're saying is going on."

"So, why didn't you tell me that she was here if nothing more is going on?"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to upset you. I hated seeing how sad you were when she came around here before Thanksgiving. That, and I didn't want you to overreact about it like you are right now."

"So you were just going to allow her to show up here whenever she wanted and not tell me because you don't want to upset me? Well, not telling me anything and me finding out like this is upsetting me. That's crap reasoning, Fitz. How long has this been happening?"

"It hasn't _been happening_, I told you it was just this once and if it's bothering you so much, I won't let it happen again," He says in an annoyed tone.

"I'm not as bothered by her staying over as I am about you not telling me about it. It's like you were sneaking around. We're supposed to be completely honest with each other."

"Like you were when you lied about wanting to come back early from your family's house after Thanksgiving because they found out about what was really going on with us?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest, looking judgmentally back at her.

"I told you after we left—"

"After I could do anything about it and now they hate me."

"I explained everything to them and even if you had talked with them, it's not like that would've made things any better. And like I said, I at least _told_ you. You weren't even going to do that in this case, you were just going to keep letting Mellie come over here and do whatever you wanted with her and hope that I never found out since it would 'upset me'. This was supposed to be _our_ place and you gave me a key to confirm that but now I'm not so sure about it anymore."

"I JUST said that I won't let her come over anymore. Will that make you stop all of this accusing? Because I've had a long, stressful day today and I just want to get some rest, so I would really prefer it if we had this conversation in the morning before one of us says something that we'll regret later."

"Really, Fitz? You think we can just go to bed and finish this in the morning? Because I'm being serious about this—"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU? I told you I wasn't sneaking around, Olivia. What the hell is going on with you? Why are you now questioning me like this?"

"I DON'T FEEL LIKE I CAN TRUST YOU!"

"Because of this one thing that happened with Mellie? Well, I'm sorry, I didn't think it was such a big deal but I was obviously wrong. Is that what you wanted to hear? Me apologize? There I said it!" says forcefully, shaking his head and turning his back to her.

She stands there, staring at him, full of shock before muttering, "You're full of crap." She turns and walks out of the room to the hallway towards the closet .

"Where are you going?" He follows her out of the room to see her getting a blanket and pillow.

"I'm sleeping on the couch."

"Oh, come on, Liv." He sees that she isn't changing her mind and feels guilty. "I'll take the couch—"

"You still don't get it, do you?" She turns to face him and then says pointedly, "I am _not_ sleeping in the same bed that you screwed Mellie."

He looks at her in shock which quickly turns to anger. "Screwed her in? You're being disgusting. I already told you nothing happened!" He sees she's not listening and finally gives up. "Fine. Do whatever you want."

She turns out the lights in the living room and fixes herself comfortably on the couch. After a few minutes Fitz closes the door to the bedroom, seeing that she's not budging and presumably goes to sleep, without another thought of her. She knows that he's tired but how could he not even care enough to talk this through with her? Yeah, he said he was sorry but it was a petty apology because he was tired of her ranting and just wanted her to shut up so they could go to bed. How did they get from four days ago where he was swinging by her work unannounced just to give her lunch like the sweetest guy in the world to the person now who was acting like he didn't give a damn about how she felt? Like she was just the stupid sidechick that didn't know her place, arguing with him about his official girlfriend coming over? How could he do that to her? Before she knows it, a single tear drops onto her pillow and more angry tears continue to fall. There was no way they would be able to celebrate Christmas together now, not with how awful he had made her feel. She needed time away from him and whether or not that time away was temporary or permanent, she still had to decide. She just couldn't do this anymore.

Fitz, on the other hand had no idea what had just happened. He had been happy to come home to her, his Livvie, after two days of not even seeing her and couldn't wait to spend alone time with her, especially with the Christmas gift he had planned for her, but now it might all be ruined because of some stupid fight over Mellie sleeping over. Why would she even think about him being guilty of all those things she accused him of? Yes, he was also with another girl but his heart belonged to Olivia and he had voiced his love to her so many times. He hadn't told her about Mellie because he knew it would upset her, not because he was trying to hide anything. And of course, he hadn't been screwing Mellie, just the thought of it made him sick. He only wanted Olivia. But they had never had a fight like that before and he wasn't sure where it would land them in the morning, but he hopes that can talk things out and try to understand each other and hopefully still enjoy this Christmas together.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Present

It had been three hours since she left him and he was still trying to process what had just happened as he looks over at the Christmas tree in the living room with gifts, _their_ gifts that they now wouldn't get to open together, stuffed underneath. He should've gone after her, he should've apologized but he knew that wouldn't have been enough and he didn't know what to say to make things better. He had had time to pour over the situation that started all this crap and he realized that he had been inconsiderate and knew how pissed off and hurt he would feel if she had shared a bed with another guy, even if she were in his position. How could he let things get so screwed up between them? The truth was he had been scared to give it all up for her. What if she had left him because her father made her or because she got bored with him and he was left all alone with not a cent to his name or a place to call home? But now as he's sitting on his couch, chugging down his fourth bottle of beer in the middle of the day and feeling like the loneliest, saddest guy in the world, he realizes that she really was all he ever needed. He felt alive only when he was with her, she gave meaning and purpose to his life, she made him want to be a better man, and he really did love her with all of his heart—but he hadn't showed her that, he hadn't been able to because of Mellie and the plan they had come up with—but screw the plan and Mellie and his father and her father! It hadn't worked anyway and now he had lost her and if he didn't have her then he didn't have anything because she was his everything—she _is_ his everything. And he wouldn't just let her go.

He puts down the beer and picks up his phone to do what he should've done three months ago. After two rings the person picks up and Fitz says, "We need to talk."

**So...that kind of ended on a sour note, but we'll see where things go. Do you think it was right for Olitz to break for now? How do you suppose Fitz will get her back? Who do you think Fitz is calling at the end? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	12. Afternoon Rain

**I find it really fascinating that a few of you think that Olivia is solely to blame for how bad things have gone. Yes, she came up with the plan and told Fitz to stay with Mellie, but Fitz hasn't been so innocent either. First of all, he pressured her into the relationship from the beginning (she could've resisted, of course, but he still pretty adamant) and when they came up with the plan he didn't really seem to object to or mind too much staying with Mellie until the end of the school year. In my opinion, if he were so innocent, he shouldn't have pressured her and shouldn't have had his head in the clouds about their relationship, thinking that it would just go fine as long as they were together in some form. He considered her feelings but never really put himself in her shoes until she lit a fire under him by leaving him. I think that they are both to blame because they both miscalculated in concocting this relationship and plan, but I feel as if Fitz should've been more responsible and considerate since Olivia was the one having to be kept on the down low. I was just giving my reasoning on the matter because a few of you said you were confused, so maybe this analysis of the situation cleared things up a bit but I'm not trying to make you think a certain way. I value all of your unique opinions because they make me think deeper and, hence, improve my writing. PopeAssociates—I do try to keep the language clean just because it's my preference and thanks for noticing that. And I loved your story Unexpected Circumstances and the sequel Even when Expected, which I just finished, good stuff =) You should all check them out if you haven't already. Now, we get into the story and we're jumping right into action, so let's see how Fitz tries to fix this…Enjoy! (This my longest one to date, over 10,000 words, yikes!)**

**Chapter 12: Afternoon Rain**

"You always find a way to screw me over, don't you, Fitz? You always have to go against me. Why can't you just do something right for once? Why can't you ever just do what I tell you to do?" Big Gerry yells as he and Fitz face off in the foyer of his father's mansion in Santa Barbara. He had arrived there in the afternoon, not to spend any time with his father but to pack up all his belongings and some valuables since he expected that he wouldn't be coming back there for a while or maybe at all—and he was fine with that.

"This always happens," Big Gerry continues with his demeaning rant. "I wanted you to go to college right after high school and instead you take a year off to 'travel the world' when I know that you were really just getting hungover everyday with those idiot friends of yours and sleeping around. I tell you to go into corporate law but you want to be a prosecuting attorney when you know going corporate will take you farther. I got you a spot in Yale for law school but not only did you go for Harvard, costing me more money in the process, but you transferred to Berkeley. What kind of dumbass decision was that? Making such a reckless move in your last year of school—and I know you only did it to piss me off because you still haven't grown out of this rebellious, rich, spoiled-rotten, bullcrap phase."

Fitz shakes head, rolling his eyes and refusing to let his father's condescending criticism get to him. "That's not the reason."

"Then why the hell did you break up with Mellie all of a sudden and mess things up for everyone else in the process?" Big Gerry screams, looking like he wants to choke his son.

Fitz stands his ground and says confidently, "Because, Dad, I found someone else—her name is Olivia and she's kind, beautiful, bright, and she gets me—the real me—something Mellie never could've done or would've tried to do. And I believe that she is the love of my life, but I've treated her like crap for so long and it's about time I man up and do the right thing by giving her the love that she deserves, if she'll take me back."

Big Gerry looks at him like he has ten heads. He pauses as if Fitz is lying or joking around but Fitz just stares back firmly at him, refusing to back down. "This is ridiculous. There's no way you're going to call some girl you just met 'the love of your life'. That stuff doesn't exist for people like us."

"You mean for people like you? Well, I'm not like you. And she is the love of my life and I'm going to be with her whether anyone likes it or not."

"Who the hell is she? Is she pregnant? Did you knock up a townie? Because that can be fixed, Fitz, you don't have to convince yourself that you're in love with her."

"I didn't knock anyone up, and she's not just some townie after my money either. I am genuinely in love with her, but I know you won't accept her because you're a stuck-up, elitist, bigot but I don't care because I'm going to be with her regardless of what you say or do to me."

Big Gerry sighs heavily, with the most irritated expression on his face, disregarding his son's insults and still not believing a word of this. "Fitz, there are other people involved in this and you're being selfish by pulling the plug when I and Mellie's father already have an arrangement. You know how these things work."

"That's just it—I don't want to be part of an arrangement because my life, much less my love life and the person I'm going to spend the rest of my days with, shouldn't be an arrangement. It's my life and I should be able to choose what I want to do with it and who I want to spend it with. And you know what, Dad? If you don't like my decisions, I really don't give a damn because I am finally going to be the man my mother wanted me to be and do the right thing. I'm done holding out on what I want. I deserve to be happy, too." He turns and starts to walk away, with the suitcase of his things.

"And what about Mellie? Do you even care about how this is affecting her?" Big Gerry asks, making a last ditch effort to play on Fitz's emotions. "Her father says she's devastated. You always do this, you act like the whole world revolves around you and you go around messing people up just because it serves you the most. You are the most selfish human being I have ever met and my biggest screw-up. I'm ashamed to call you my son—if your mom were still alive, she'd be saying the same thing."

Fitz walks right up to him, having had enough. It takes everything in him not to punch his face in but he keeps his fists at his side and says in a low, angry voice, "Don't you dare act like you know a damn thing about what my mother would say. You didn't know anything about her. She hated you, you were a horrible husband and person in general and I hope that I never turn out like you. I know that if she were here, she would be proud of me. And I'm fine with you being ashamed to call me your son because I am ashamed to call you my father."

Big Gerry raises his eyebrows. "You think you're better than me?" He laughs right in Fitz's face. "Alright, Fitzgerald. You're either extremely daring or incredibly stupid, and I'm leaning towards the latter. Let's see how long that gold-digging tramp you call 'the love of your life' stays with you when she finds out that you don't have a penny to your name, because if you walk out that door, you can assume that all your assets from me are cut off. I'm done playing this game with you, Fitz—I'm not going to keep enabling you to make stupid decisions. You go through with this and you're on your own!"

Fitz shrugs. "I thought you might say that and I'm completely fine with that. I guess this is goodbye, then."

Big Gerry continues to walk after him as Fitz puts his stuff into the cab that's waiting for him. "Where are you going now?"

Fitz looks back at him and says simply, "I'm going to get my woman back." He gets in the car and the cab heads back towards the airport.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia is now at Abby's house, laying on her bed as Abby tries to better understand why her best friend called her out of the blue in such a crying mess that she almost hopped in her car and picked her up herself. Abby had told Olivia to pull over, afraid that she would get into an accident if she didn't and when Olivia had calmed down, she drove to Abby's from the gas station she was parked at. Abby had gotten her to eat a piece of toast and was now trying to get her to explain what was going on.

"Liv, I know you're kind of a mess right now but if you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you."

Olivia takes a deep breath. "Fitz and I are done. We had a fight and now it's over between us."

Abby has a pained expression in her face as she says, "Oh, Liv…I'm sorry. What happened?"

"It had to do with Mellie. I hadn't seen him for the past few days because he was busy with work and I felt like he was neglecting me and I probably would've gotten over it if I hadn't found out that Mellie had slept over at his apartment the night I came over here for our get-together. He gave me a key to the apartment, it was supposed to be our place, you know, so that we could hang out without caring about being seen and he told me that he would try to keep Mellie away from it as much as he could, which I was fine with, but I thought he would tell me when she came over. We were getting ready to go to bed when I saw her jacket in the bedroom. He wasn't even going to tell me, he was just going to keep doing it and keep it a secret because he said he didn't want to upset me but I don't know what to think." She shakes her head.

Abby gives her a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry. He should've never done that, even if he justified it with not wanting to upset you. What a lame-ass excuse."

"That's what I said. But then he acted like he didn't even care when I tried to tell him I was upset that he didn't tell me. He had been stressed out a lot lately and he wanted to just go to bed so when I kept bothering about it, he got mad and so did I. I slept on the couch because I thought he had banged Mellie in the bed, though I'm really not sure if he did, and I left this morning."

Abby rubs comforting circles on Liv's back as she cries out the last of her tears.

"I'm so mad at him right now. I set aside my morals and dignity to be with him and came up with some stupid plan to make it work between us but I'm not even sure what I really meant to him. I mean, when he gave me the key to his apartment and we spent all that time there, I thought that he was serious, but I don't know what to think now." She also thinks of the ways he would just look at her in wonder and the love she felt when he talked to her or said her name or held her in his arms for hours on end and kissed her with so much passion. The possibility that he could've been playing with her the whole time makes her feel so horrible that she feels bile rising up her throat at the thought, so she pushes it away from her mind as she collapses onto Abby's bed, laying her head on a pillow, feeling emotionally and physically drained.

Olivia's tears finally dry out and she tells Abby, "I'm sorry for coming over like this, especially during the holiday. If it's fine with you, I'll be out of here within a few hours. I just didn't want to go to my Mom's like this. I guess my pride also got in the way, since my Mom and Grandpa Joe had told me that staying with Fitz was a bad idea and I didn't listen."

"Liv, it's fine. You don't have to leave in a few hours if you don't want to. You can even stay for Christmas and after that—as long as you need. You did the same for me when I went through my break-up with Paul."

Olivia gives her a wry smile which Abby returns. Abby sits down in a beanbag, letting Olivia have the bed all to herself, and switches on her TV to get Olivia's mind off of things and after not too long, she falls asleep.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

By 5pm, Fitz is back in northern Cali and heading to Olivia's mom's house to try and fix the mess they're in. He had called and texted her phone earlier but she didn't pick up, like he expected, but he was now calling her again to tell her that he was on his way to her. He tries four times and just as he's about to give up, someone answers, but it's not Olivia.

"Who is this?" a tired but familiar sounding female voice asks. "Now really isn't the best time to call."

"Uh…who is this?" Fitz asks back.

"You're the one calling. I think that you should answer my question first."

"_Abby_?" He guesses, vaguely remembering her voice and what Olivia's told him about her snarky attitude. "What are you doing with Olivia's phone?"

"Wait a second…is this Fitz?" She asks in a sharp, angry tone.

Fitz disregards this and answers, "Yes. Is Olivia there with you? Can you put her on? I really need to talk to her."

"You're not getting anywhere near Olivia after what you did to her, you idiot son of a bitch!" Olivia had told Fitz not long after the double date fiasco that Abby was aware of their relationship and promised she wouldn't squeak to Mellie about them but she obviously wasn't too happy about what Fitz was doing to her best friend, and now that he had hurt Olivia, he was about to get the full wrath of Abby Whelan .

"Please, Abby, I'm trying to make this right so let me talk to her."

"How about you go to hell?" She says smartly.

Fitz starts to get annoyed and replies as politely as he can, "No offense, but this has really nothing to do with you. This is between me and Olivia and I doubt that you completely understand what's going on with us, so could you please hand the phone over to her?"

"No, I will not. She told me everything about you guys and don't even try to act like you know her better than I, one of her closest friends of 8 years, when you guys just met three months ago. I don't even know what she saw in you because all I see is the average asshole playing some stupid cat and mouse game but I've never seen her fall so hard for anyone like she did with you. You broke her heart but I doubt that you even give a damn, right? To you she's just one of many girls that you've toyed with but, you know what? I'm going to make sure that you pay for it, I'm not only going to tell Mellie but I'm going to mess up your reputation so badly, that at least the entire west coast will know about how much of a pathetic manwhore you are. You make me sick!"

"I don't care about who you tell. I broke up with Mellie and I know that I should've done it earlier but I admit that I made a mistake. And Olivia wasn't just part of some cat and mouse game, I wasn't playing her, I was genuinely in love with her and I still love her."

"Then why did you do this to her? Why didn't you just dump Mellie if you loved Olivia so much? Was it because of the money—yeah, I know about how rich you are and I know a business arrangement when I see one, even if it's being disguised as love."

"No, it wasn't because of the money—Liv and I came up with a plan that involved me staying with Mellie—"

"Because you wanted to stay in your father's good graces," she interjects. "Don't deny it, Fitz, you wanted to have your cake and eat it, too. You thought you could juggle Mellie and Olivia and your father around and that it would somehow just all work out all fine and dandy but now it's come back to bite you in the butt. I hope you get everything that you deserve."

Fitz sighs, really feeling like scum. "I don't want to sit here and debate back and forth with you all day, Abby, so can you please put Olivia on? I just need to talk to her quickly."

"She's sleeping. You did a number on her and it looks like she could use all the rest that she can get. So, can you please hang up now? If she wants to talk to you, that's up to her, but until then, leave her alone."

"Okay, but will you at least tell her that I called when she wakes up?"

"Maybe."

"Please, Abby…"

"I said, _maybe_."

He groans. "Fine. Goodbye."

"Hmph," she scoffs in return and hangs up. All Fitz can think is that he better never cross a feisty redhead like Abby ever again.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia wakes up around 8pm to see Abby asleep in the beanbag she was sitting in earlier and the TV still on. Olivia sits up from the bed and searches for her phone, so that she doesn't have to turn on Abby lamp since Abby looks relatively peaceful. She spots her phone on the floor, next to Abby and picks it up, which she immediately regrets as soon as she sees several missed calls from Fitz. She's about to put the phone down when she gets a text from him: _If you're reading this, Olivia, I want you to know how sorry I am for all of this and for being so insensitive and I hope that you know that I love you and I will never stop loving you. I have so much more to say but I'd really like to talk to you in person so when you're ready, so am I. Goodnight, Livvie and Merry Christmas Eve. _

She reads the text over and over again but her anger and hurt isn't allayed all that much and she doesn't know how long it will be until she's ready to talk to, much less see him again.

The next morning, Olivia wakes up around 7am to head to her mom's. She thanks Abby for helping her out and letting her stay, but she decides that she doesn't want to stay and wait for Abby's family to open presents because it would just feel awkward and besides, Olivia's family still really wants to see her. Abby asks her if she'll be okay to drive and she says yes. During the drive, Olivia listens to some music that will keep her spirits up and an hour and a half later, she arrives safely at her mom's. Olivia goes to her trunk to get the presents she bought for her family and after making sure that she's fully composed, she slaps on a happy face and knocks on the door. She's greeted by Emmy, Nathan, and her grandparents and once her Mom and Chris come downstairs, they all begin to open gifts in the living room.

Exchanging of the presents ends up taking about an hour and afterwards they all have a simple breakfast, mostly just cereal, since they'll be having a nice, big meal for dinner later. After breakfast, everyone helps clean up and they go back into the living room to chat and marvel over their new gifts. Olivia had perked up earlier, genuinely thankful that she had this time with her family, but her cloud of sadness still remains, making it harder for her to engage or even smile at her loved ones. So, she excuses herself and takes her suitcases up the stairs to the room she'll be staying in for a while—now until she goes back to school. It would've just been a week, but she still didn't know how things with Fitz would go just yet.

After five minutes of unpacking, Olivia hears on a knock on her door and a voice she assumes belongs to her mother ask, "Can I come in?"

Olivia groans, since she came up there in the first place to be alone and not have to deal with anyone questioning her, but nevertheless she says, "Yes."

Maya strolls in casually and smiles at her daughter. "What are you up to?"

Olivia shrugs as she folds and then puts some her clothes in a drawer. "Just unpacking."

Maya nods and sits on the bed in the room as Olivia continues putting things away. After a few minutes of this, Olivia is unable to take her mother following her every move without a single word and she breaks the silence. "Do you need something?"

"No, not really, I just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"You," Maya says simply. "You seem off and sad. Are you alright?"

Yeah, I'm fine," Olivia replies, with more attitude than she intended.

"I don't believe that."

"Look, Mom, I don't need you or anyone else trying to always find out if there's something wrong with me. I can handle my business _myself_, so just leave it alone. It's not like you've really cared about anything that I've gone through for the past four years, so I don't know why you're so interested now." It was a low blow and as soon as the words came out of her mouth, Olivia wanted to take them back, but she couldn't. She looks back at her and sees her mom nod acceptingly and say, "That's fair."

Olivia sighs. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Olivia, both you and I know that you did and like I said, it's fair for you to have that opinion. I know I haven't been around much in your life or been such a great mother to you or your brother since the divorce and I regret it every day leaving you guys to Eli, but I'm trying to make up for it and be here for you now, so could you let me try?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm sorry. I know you stayed with him for as long as you could and if you had stayed any longer, you probably would've gone crazy permanently." Olivia remembers when how much of a bad shape her mother was in when she had left her dad. She had tried to commit suicide twice and was taken to a ward for three months until they were able to get her back to anywhere near slightly normal. She had made a big improvement in her first year and after agreeing to meet with a psychiatrist every week and to take medicine to keep her calm, she was allowed to start trying to get her life back in order. Her family had stayed by her side throughout the entire ordeal, which also helped with her speedy recovery and not too long after, she had met Chris and fallen in love with both him and Emmy and they had, too, despite her past, she got married, and now she has a baby on the way.

During the whole time with her mom shaking off the crazy, Olivia and Nathan had been forced by Eli to stay with him and weren't even able to see their mother until the court deemed she was fit enough to be a parent again and allowed the kids to visit her during the holidays and weekends in the summer. Olivia had thought that she had lost her mother, and some ways, she still had, but this version of her was much better than the sad, stressed, and abused one she had known throughout her childhood. She was now joyful and full of life and at peace, so Olivia was glad for that.

Olivia sighs and decides to just come out with the truth to why she's upset. "But that's not why I'm down."

"Then what's going on, sweetheart?"

"I broke up with Fitz yesterday. We had a fight and I decided that we should take a break, only I'm not sure how long that break will last. It might be permanent." Olivia feels herself sinking deeper and deeper into her sadness as she thinks about it.

Maya frowns. "I'm sorry to hear that, honey."

"I guess I should've listened to you and Grandpa. Maybe he was never really serious about me."

Maya hugs her and Olivia curls into her accepting the comfort. "I don't know, Liv. But I want you to know that even though I may not agree with what you two did, I don't love you any less and I'm still proud of the young woman that you've become. I know that you really loved Fitz and from what I saw he felt the same way but like you said earlier, your relationship was complex and I think it was a good idea for you guys to break things off, whether it's temporary or permanent. He has some things to figure out and I believe that you do as well. But if it doesn't work out, you will find someone else who will give you all the love that you deserve. And you know that I and the rest of your family are always here for you."

Olivia smiles up at her mom and nods. "I know."

"Why don't you unpack this stuff later? There's some homemade popcorn downstairs—I know that's bound to get your spirits up."

"Okay," Olivia agrees, standing up and following her mom, but she stops before they enter the hallway and says, "Mom?"

Maya turns back. "Mmhmm?"

"I love you. I haven't told you that in a while but I just wanted to make sure that you knew that."

She smiles back. "I love you, sweetie." And then they head downstairs together.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz didn't get a reply from Olivia, not that he thought he would since he was pretty sure Abby hadn't told her about their discussion and even then she probably wouldn't have wanted to talk to him. He's now back at the apartment, alone and miserable on Christmas day, watching some re-runs of one of his favorite sitcoms to keep his mind occupied, but it doesn't work. Nothing works. He threw away all the alcohol in his possession, afraid that he would drink himself to death if he even touched one bottle of beer. He hasn't eaten anything since the night before she left him and has been keeping his body going just by drinking water, but his stomach is telling it's not enough. But he doesn't care—the last thing on his mind is food and maybe he actually wants to punish himself.

He glances away from the TV that he's really not watching and stares at his and her unopened gifts under the Christmas tree. He feels such an urge to be close to her in any way possible and before he knows it, he's picking up the first present he sees from her and rips at the wrapping paper, unable to resist. In a nice, small, black box is his Rolex watch that had stopped working properly but he looks at it closely and sees that the minute hand is now moving correctly and he guess that she got it fixed. He puts it on and sees that it was even polished up a little. The next gift is three sweater vests—Fitz knows that she's been obsessed with him wearing sweater vests since she was able to convince him to wear one around Thanksgiving. He laughs and tries them on and can imagine how she would react to seeing him. He sighs, wishing he could just see her smile at him once again. The last gift is the most heartwarming—a large heart made out of pictures of them, plastered onto a white background and put into a picture frame to be hung on the wall. He recognizes some of the pictures, others that look vaguely familiar, and others he doesn't recall at all, like one of him soundly sleeping in the bedroom. He knows that they did take a lot of pictures together but he is surprised that there are so many, there must be about a hundred of them, and a lot of them are from different moments. He turns the frame around and at the back of it is an explanation: _These are some of our best moments together so far and I know there will be more to come but I thought that this would be perfect as a Christmas gift. I love you with all my heart, Fitzgerald. You make me feel like one of the happiest and most loved gals in the world and I know that we're in a difficult situation currently but our love will pull us through. Merry Christmas, babe! P.S. And yes, I did call you Fitzgerald ; )_ Fitz sinks down on the couch and buries his face in his hands, feeling like his head is about to explode. He should've never opened the gifts. He thought doing so would somewhat alleviate his pain but it only made it worse. He collapses back on the couch, filled with so much sadness but he reaches for his phone to text her anyway because he can't stay away.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Throughout the week, Olivia barely carries on, no longer crying but feeling miserable most of the time. She gets several texts from Fitz but she's still upset with him so she doesn't reply:

Later on Christmas day she got: _I opened your presents for me. I couldn't resist…thank you. I loved everything. I love you._

Two days later: _I broke up with her, a few hours after you left. I know I should've told you that sooner but I didn't want you to think that I was playing with your feelings again or lying just to entice you to talk to me. But I finally manned up and did it because you really are the most important person in my life. I love you so much. Please tell me when you're ready to talk because I have so much that I need to say._

Olivia is more than shocked to learn that he actually dumped Mellie, and even more surprised that he did it only hours after she left. She thinks about texting him back but right as she's about to send him something, she erases what she says.

The next day: _You don't know how much I miss you. All I do is think and dream about you… _Olivia thinks about how much she misses him and every time she closes her eyes, she sees him and hears their past conversations playing in her head.

The day after: _I love you._

Three days later: _Please, Liv, talk to me! I can understand it if you don't want to see me again but can we first have a face-to-face conversation? I need to see you!_"

She seriously contemplates meeting with him but she feels like she'd be giving into him too fast. She never thought it would hurt this much being away from him but she still feels like they need the break for at least a month. She wants to reply but doesn't know quite what to say and doesn't want to say the wrong thing, making her so frustrated that she chucks her phone across the room, but it luckily doesn't break.

After five more days, he gives up and she doesn't get any more texts from him but she doesn't get the satisfying feeling she thought she would, instead she's disappointed. Disappointed in herself for not reaching out to him sooner, disappointed in him for finally giving up on her. And for the first time she's really scared that they might actually be over.

Two days later when she's hanging out in her room, her mom comes to her and says, "Can we talk again?"

Olivia nods reluctantly, not really wanting to engage with anyone at the moment, which is how she's been for the past two weeks. "About what?"

Maya takes a big breath. "Liv, I'm sorry but you're driving everyone in this house crazy, girl. No one knows how to act around you with this moody behavior. "Has he been trying to contact you?"

Olivia looks at her confused, thinking that she hasn't been that bad around her family members but she recalls lashing out at Nathan a few days ago just for eating the last of her favorite cereal, which she now feels guilty about. She decides to tell her mom the truth, finally getting tired of not having anyone to talk to. "Yeah…about a week ago was the last time he said anything, though."

She sighs. "Before then he told me that he broke up with the other girl. He actually ended it the same day that I left. He says that he wants to meet with me face to face so that we can talk."

"Then go talk to him. If he really did break things off with the other girl then I'm pretty sure that means he really is serious about you, Liv. Give him another chance. At least hear what he has to say."

"I don't know, Mom…"

"Why are you punishing yourself? You're overthinking things. I know you're dying to see him so go to him. If it doesn't work out, you can at least say that you tried and that it ended fairly, because you sulking up in your room all day every day, speculating about the situation is not going to help. You'll lose him if you don't talk to him."

She lets her mom's words sink in and she can barely imagine the thought of losing him for good. She was punishing herself for no good reason and she had undoubtedly overthought this situation from the very beginning. All he wanted to do was talk and she had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to discuss, though she wasn't sure she was ready for it, but her mom was right. If she let them end like this—cutting off any form of communication with him until he slowly stopped caring and eventually moved on with his life—she would blame herself for refusing to make amends. At least if they talked it out and still couldn't reach a favorable solution, she could say that she tried. Maybe they could even still be friends. But that wasn't what she wanted.

"Okay, I'll talk to him."

After trying for a few hours, she finally has enough courage to text him: _Okay, if you still want to we can talk. Meet me at the Roseville Park at 3pm…if you're sure._ What if he had already moved on? He hadn't said anything in almost a week. But within ten minutes, she gets a reply from him, saying: _I'll be there at 3pm sharp. Thank you for doing this._

She showers and cleans up her appearance a little more, wanting to at least look presentable to the outside world. She puts on a casual blouse and some blue jeans and heads out around 2:45pm after telling her mom she'd be out for two hours, even though the actual conversation with Fitz would probably last five minutes to half an hour tops, but she would need the rest of the time to bawl her eyes out in private if they ended things.

She pulls into the parking lot, picking a spot that she realizes is right next Fitz's car as soon as she parks. She looks out towards the park and sees him sitting on a bench, bent over with his elbows on his knees in deep thought. She takes a deep breath and gets out of the car. As she makes her way towards him, she notices the gray sky and somewhat recalls stormy weather on the forecast, but thinks she'll be fine because it isn't too cold out and nothing seems to be too fishy with the weather at the moment. "Sorry, I'm late…there was some traffic." She is about five minutes late because of some roadwork being done on the main streets.

"I'm just glad that you came." He gives her a small smile. "How are you?"

His voice sounds croaky and rough, like he hasn't spoken in days. She shrugs. "Probably not that much better than you. You look like crap." He's dressed in a black v-neck with jeans and a black hoodie. His face looks kind of gaunt and his mouth automatically slopes down when he's neutral-faced. He has his hands in his pockets and instead of the confident, charming way of standing that she's used to, he's sort of hunched over in a defeated way. The only thing that draws her into him, letting her know that this is her Fitz, is his eyes which have changed from bright and inviting to dull and sad, but nevertheless, they still have that same pulling effect on her.

He chuckles. "I know. I haven't slept in days." She can see this by the dark, long bags under his eyes, which she probably also has as well.

"Neither have I…" She trails off and they stand there awkwardly until they make eye contact again.

"I miss you," he says, with so much longing in his voice.

She wants to say the same but her pride and bitterness hold her back. "I'm still angry with you."

"I know and I deserve that. I should've been more considerate of your feelings. I never should've allowed Mellie to come to our place and even when I did I should've discussed it with you because we were a team and we were supposed to be completely honest with each other. I acted like such an ass and I'm sorry. Could you forgive me for it?"

He had really hurt her when she thought that he didn't care about her anymore, but as she stares back at him, looking into those precious blue pools of his that reach down into his soul, she sees nothing but sincerity and shame and a willingness to make things right and she feels that she has to give him the benefit of the doubt. She subtly nods and after a few seconds more of silence, she asks, "Did you really break up with her?"

Without hesitation, he replies firmly, "Yes, I did. I'm all yours now…if you'll take me back."

She feels ecstatic at the words she's wanted to hear for so long but nevertheless still has a pang of guilt. She sighs. "You shouldn't have done that. Your father's going to murder you now."

He shrugs. "I don't care anymore. I'm tired of letting other people dictate my life and my decisions…which is why I'm no longer in my father's good graces. He disowned me. I'm on my own now. And I'm fine with it."

"Fitz…"

"No, Liv, don't feel sorry or worried for me," he tells her, inching a little closer. "_I_ made this decision because I know what I want. I want you, Olivia, I love you with all of my being and I'm sorry that I didn't show you that earlier but if you give me another chance, I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Fitz, I can't let you do this. I can't let you ruin your life because of me. This is why we came up with the plan in the first place. Your father can give you the best opportunities and a great, successful life and career. That's not going to happen if you do this."

He glances away, looking slightly offended. "Gee…I thought you had more faith in me than that."

"I do, you know how much I believe in you."

"Then why don't you believe that we can make this work? I don't need my dad or his money. I already have several firms interested in me that want me to work with them in the summer and if I impress just one of them, I'd have a pretty good job. I won't have as much money as I did before but I'd still make enough to get by and as I climb up the ranks, things would only get better. Maybe a decade from now I could be Attorney General or a state governor. We don't need him or your father. I know you're going to be a fantastic lawyer, Liv, any firm would be lucky to have you, but I always picture you starting your own firm—crisis management since you're pretty good at strategizing and you could call it Olivia Grant & Associates, or OGA for short. It would be in D.C. and you would be known throughout the country as 'the formidable Olivia Grant' because no scandal or crisis would too big for you to handle and you would strike fear into the hearts of all your enemies. You would be one of the most powerful people in the country."

She's no less than shocked at his words but it warms her heart that he has so much confidence in her that he mapped out a vision of how both she and he could grow successful together—and his ideas didn't sound bad at all to her.

"Together we would be unstoppable, Liv, we could even go for the White House if that's what you really wanted."

For the first time since she's been there with him, she cracks a smile. "I don't really see myself as First Lady material—I think I would most likely die of boredom if I did that."

Fitz nods and smirks at her. "Then OGA it is."

"It's just…are you really sure that you want to do this? I would hate for you to give everything up for me and then regret it later if things didn't go as smoothly as planned. I wouldn't be able to live with myself seeing you so miserable if I could've avoided it."

"I'm already so miserable without you. I need you to be in my life, Olivia. The reason why I first broke up with Mellie and confronted my father before coming to you is because I wanted to show you how dedicated I am to what we have, because love is about taking risks, even when you don't always know how things will turn out, but I have enough faith in us to know that something beautiful and long-lasting can come out of this. I should've ended it with her sooner but when you left me, you lit a fire under me and showed me that without you I can't go on with my life. I'll never find anyone as perfect as you for me, Olivia, you're my whole world, you're my reason to breathe. I exist for you! So, no more running away, I am choosing you for real this time no matter what the consequence. This is me earning you. I can only hope that you'll choose me, too. So, what do you say, Livvie? Will you take a chance on us?"

Olivia stares back at his pleading eyes and can feel herself starting to break down. _This is really happening_, she thinks, digesting the magnitude of this moment. All anger she felt towards him before is now gone and after another long moment of looking back at him, she's about to finally give in when she feels a droplet of water land on her forehead and another on her cheek a second later. The rain rapidly starts to fall, throwing the both of them off, but Fitz is quick to walk over to Olivia and take off his hoodie to give it to her. They start to walk back towards their cars, which are fortunately right next to each other. They look back at each other, trying to decide on what to do. But as soon as they make eye contact, with their faces just inches away, everything around them is a blur—it's just she and him and that's all that matters. They're both overcome with the same desire and longing to connect in a way that they haven't been able to in the past two weeks and before they know it, they're attacking each other's lips in an earth-shattering kiss, wasting no time to reintroduce their mouths as their tongues dance around together.

Fitz takes Olivia's face in his hands and pushes her against his car door. He can feel himself becoming more alive and knows with every passionate second that he can't and won't ever let her go. She wraps her arms around his neck, drawing him nearer and he can feel the need to be even closer. He slides her away from the car door and reaches for the handle to open the door. By now they're nearly drenched in rain as he picks her up so that she's straddling him and they enter the car together. They disconnect for a few seconds as he lays her down so that he's on top and she frantically grabs at him, finally getting hold of his shirt and roughly pulling him to her to reconnect their lips, making him even more turned on at her wild behavior and how much she wants him. He eventually pulls the shirt off and she follows suit taking off the jacket he gave her earlier and her blouse. Fitz lays frantic kisses on her neck going down to her chest and making the kisses more slow and sensual as he nips at the edge of her breasts, earning a pleasurable moan out of her. She undoes the zipper on her jeans and he helps her pull them down to her knees. He rubs his hands all over her thighs, relishing in the feeling of her warm, soft skin beneath his fingers as he moves down further, caressing his way down to her stomach and nipping and sucking at her skin. He hits the right spot and gets a squeal out of her. She places both hands on his butt and roughly pulls at his pants. He unbuttons them, letting her pull them all the way down. He comes up from her stomach as she tugs at his boxers, managing to drag them down to his thighs as he finally slides her panties down. They look up one last time, realizing what they're about to do and as soon as she gives him the okay, he enters her. He starts gently and slowly but when she nods vigorously, urging him to go harder, he moves in deeper and makes the thrusts rougher and faster, as the wonderful feeling comes back to him and he's doing it with the person he loves so much. She lets out a grunt with every plunge he takes but as he speeds up, she starts screaming like he never thought he would hear her and he stops, thinking he's hurting her, especially since he has a pretty big baguette that is still expanding with his growing erection, but she looks back up at him and urges him on further, "No, keep going, I can take it."

Without any hesitation, he goes as far in as he can and thrusts her even harder and faster, making her squeal out his name in pleasure, giving him even more momentum. He hears thunder crackling outside and the rain continuing to fall harder and he feels like he's on fire as adrenaline courses through his veins and the sensation he's experiencing makes him feel so drunk on love. He starts to moan out her name, calling her his "sweet baby" and stops after a full minute of thrusts, starting to pull out of her but she hugs him closer to her and whispers breathlessly, "No, stay. I need you as close as possible."

He smiles at her and she does the same as they stare into each other's eyes, savoring this moment of how they are joined in mind, body, and soul. In her eyes, he can see everything—a wonderful relationship with the most wonderful woman in the world, the successful life they'll make for themselves, growing old with her, the beautiful babies they'll make together that will be a perfect shade of their skin colors put together and will have her gorgeous features and his wavy hair and blue eyes. They could make it—they would make it because he would stop at nothing to ensure that they did. She was his forever.

They brush their lips together and he whispers against her face, "I love you, Livvie. And I'm never letting you go."

"I love you, too, babe. I'm so sorry for walking away, I'll never do it again," she tells him in a voice that breaks his heart.

"You had the right to walk away. I didn't treat you like I should've and I deserved you leaving me. But it also helped me realize just how much I need you in my life and that without you, I am nothing. You're my everything."

"You are my everything. I love you so much."

He pecks her lips in response. He looks up from her with the most satisfied of smiles which quickly leaves his face when he remembers where they are. "Oh, crap, Livvie. I totally forgot that we're in the parking lot of a public park and my ass is currently hanging out of the car for all to see."

He expects her to be worried at well but all she does is look at him and flash him a goofy smile which he then returns. "Well, it doesn't look like there's anyone else out there so the only one that you have to worry about seeing you butt-naked is me." She says with a wicked, sexy grin, placing her hands on his ass and squeezing, earning a nervous sound out of him.

"As much as I would like to stay like this forever with you, I really need to pull out of you because my arms are hoisting me up so that I don't crush you but I don't think I can do it any longer."

She blushes. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

He pulls out and sits up on the car seat, closing the door behind him. He glances over at her and catches her gawking at his man-junk and he smirks and asks, "Impressed?"

She looks up and smiles at him. "Yeah, and a little sore, actually really sore, but it's the good kind."

"I guess I did a pretty good job, then," he says, winking at her.

She laughs. "Mmhmm, but I don't really have anyone else to gage you by. This is my first time."

He looks incredulously at her. "Seriously?"

She nods, looking self-conscious which makes him feel a little guilty for embarrassing her, but he says, "I'm really glad that I got to be your first time and I wish that you could've been mine, but if you had told me I would've made it more special. With at least a bed and maybe some wine and dim lights and rose petals."

She shakes her head. "That's corny. I liked this much better since we did it when we were caught up in the moment, not because it was planned."

He nods in agreement. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me, not that I didn't enjoy it entirely, but…I know that we've only been apart for two weeks but it's felt like forever to me—especially since we weren't on good terms and I never want that to happen again. It was so awful being without you like that, I felt like I was being suffocated and I told myself that I would behave when you agreed for us to meet but you don't know what you do to me, Livvie. You're my drug. I'm utterly addicted. You're my heart and soul."

She gives him a crooked smile but says with a serious expression, "You don't know how hard it was for me, Fitz. All I could do was think about you during the day and when I tried to go to sleep at night all I saw was you. That's why I couldn't sleep, because it hurt so much just to picture you and have all of our conversations playing in my head nonstop. I was so miserable—you should've seen how my family was tiptoeing around me, my mom almost kicked me out of the house. But I was also scared of what I had just done to us. Yes, I was angry at you and I think we both needed the break to straighten out our feelings but I was so afraid that I had permanently messed up everything between us, especially when you didn't come after me right after I left, which I now see was because you were dealing with Mellie and your dad, but I thought that by taking off I had taken us beyond the point of no return. And that really scared the crap out of me because you really are the most important person in my life, no one can affect me in the ways that you do, when I'm not around you I feel like the best part of me is missing and there's no way I can just move on with my life without you. I'm bound so strongly to you, Fitz, and nothing's going to ever break that bond."

He cracks her a small smile, on the verge of tears at her confession. He's never felt so wanted or felt like he belonged somewhere so much in his entire life. And from this moment on he really knows that he'll never willingly leave her side. He's felt the bond between them ever since he laid eyes on her and now that she's confirmed that she feels it, too, he finally feels complete. His mind flashes back to the day he asked her about their connection, that night on the beach when they started this, when they sealed each other's fates:

Almost two months ago

_Five minutes later, they're standing apart from one another panting, having stopped their make-out session before they could take things to the next level, which was and still is especially hard for Fitz, since he feels like laying her down right there on the sand and finishing from where they left off. He turns to her, looking her in the eyes and firmly tells her, "I'm breaking things off with Mellie and we're going to be together. Openly."_

_She shakes her head no. "Fitz, calm down, you can't just break up with Mellie and be with me. First of all, our parents would kill us, and Mellie is my friend and she'd never forgive me if things ended like this. We need to take things slow."_

_He thinks things through and agrees, "Okay, but I promise that one day, very soon, we'll be together in the open and everyone else will just have to deal with it, because I am NEVER letting you go."_

_Her mouth cracks into a small smile, which Fitz returns. "We're in this together, then?"_

_Olivia gives him a nod and affirms, "We're in this together."_

He thinks about how much things have changed since that time, but one thing still holds true—they really are in this together.

She looks up at him, smiling pensively, and he swears that she's thinking of the same memory and has the same thoughts. She starts to pull up her panties and Fitz remembers that they're still pretty naked and is so thankful that everyone took off before they could get to their love-making, but he doesn't want to take the chance of some curious cop stopping by and making them explain, so he follows Olivia's lead, slipping his boxers and pants back up and then searching for his long-sleeved shirt, which ended up in the front seat. His pants are wet from hanging out in the rain but still okay enough to wear.

"Did you see my—?" Olivia starts to ask, stopping when Fitz hands her her blouse that wound up on his side. She blushes and says, "Thanks," making Fitz smile because he thinks her timidity is the cutest thing in the world.

She slips the blouse back on and the hoodie he gave her earlier as well but he can see that she's still cold. "It's kind of chilly. If you want to go back to the apartment or a hotel we could do that instead."

She squints her eyes at him. "Is that a subtle way of you trying to get a round two with me?"

He smirks. "As much as I do want that, right now I'm seriously worried that you might get sick."

He sees her suppress a smile. "I'll be okay. Just turn on the heater, put your arms around me and let's watch the sunset together. The sky looks so beautiful when it rains in the afternoon," she tells him, gazing out as droplets of water run down the car's windows as the rain continues to fall down hard. They look up together at the sky, which is mostly covered with gray clouds and a hazy mixture of white and orange peeking through and the view really is stunning but to him nothing will ever compare to his Livvie. Fitz agrees and leans over to the front of the car to turn it on just so that he can control the heater and sets it to be on for ten minutes so that he doesn't drain his car battery. He leans back into the backseat and pulls Olivia onto his lap and tightly hugs her around her waist as if his life depends on it, relishing in the wonderful feeling of having her back in his arms where she belongs. He places his chin on her shoulder and caresses her neck a few times before giving her a simple kiss on the cheek and whispering in her ear, "I love you so much, Livvie."

"I love you, Fitz, with everything in me." They then look back out the window together, taking in the beautiful, stormy sight in front of them and within a short amount of time, they both drift off to sleep to the patter of rain outside and the sound of each other's heartbeats.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia wakes up in darkness, loosely wrapped up in Fitz's embrace and she remembers that they're still in his car after watching the rainy sky and the sunset. She digs her phone out of her pocket to check the time—9pm—and she sees that she has several calls and texts from her mom who must be worried to death by now. Olivia would be surprised if there wasn't a search party looking for her at that moment. Olivia told her that she would be gone anywhere from thirty minutes to several hours, depending on how her conversation with Fitz went, which had just about turned out better than she could've ever dreamed, but Olivia had promised to at least text her mom to make sure that she was okay. She does that right now and after a minute of anxious waiting, her mom replies, giving Olivia hell about how worried she was and how she was about to call the cops and head out to find her. Olivia apologizes and says she'll be back home in thirty minutes.

She turns her head to see Fitz, stirring in his sleep and as she moves on his lap to get a better look at him, he latches onto her harder but doesn't wake up. She vaguely sees his face in the darkness and takes in his soft features, like she's done a million times, waking up next to him. She finds it comical that the man who's sleeping like a baby right now is the same as the one who just hours earlier was vigorously pumping her through with a force intense enough to make her make sounds she never thought would come out of her mouth and scream his name hysterically.

Her first time was not at all how she thought it would be. She'd heard that the first was the worst because it could be awkward, especially when the person you were with wasn't very experienced, which she wasn't, but she knew that Fitz had been with a lot of other women before her so he knew what he was doing and he wasted no time showing her just what he had picked up over time. When he entered her, it was such a wonderfully foreign feeling, especially since his junk was so huge, but it made her feel like she was high or drunk off of the sensation and she urged him to keep pushing until he hit her limits. When he finally stopped, her body was telling her that he needed to get out of her before she burst but her heart wanted them to be as close as possible. And as she looked into his eyes with their bodies, minds, and souls joined together, she could see it all—them getting married, raising kids together, being successful together, living good and happy lives—she saw it all with him. She had felt their bond before but it was never as strong as it had been in that moment and it had there been confirmed for her that he truly was her soulmate. She could never let him go and she wouldn't let any force in the world pull them apart ever again.

She sees Fitz eyes flicker open and he smiles in the middle of a yawn as his eyes make contact with hers. "Hi, Livvie." He brings his hand up to her face and gently rubs his thumb across her check but frowns, asking, "What's wrong, baby?"

Olivia didn't even notice that she was crying. She didn't know what emotion she was exhibiting, though. Were they tears of sadness, joy, completeness, determination? Maybe they were a mixture of all four, but one thing she knew for sure is that she wanted to dedicate herself fully to Fitz. He had already given up everything for her and showed her that he really did want a relationship and a life with her, so it's time she did the same.

She sweetly smiles at him, taking his cheeks in her hands and says, "I love you and I want to do and give my very best for you."

"But you already do that," he tells her back gently, running his hands along her arms. "You're absolutely perfect. You don't need to change anything."

"I mean, I don't want us to be a secret anymore. You've already done so much to prove to me that you're serious and that you really love me, so I want to do just that."

"Like how, Livvie?"

"I want to come clean to everyone about us—including my father."

**Well, I hope that you enjoyed this one. I really didn't want to keep our magnificent couple apart for too long and have their misery drag on for several chapters more, so now they're back together and stronger than ever. I was going to make their first love-making session next chapter since they'll be going somewhere special but it was raining in the afternoon when I was writing this and I just got into the mood for a love scene and decided to go with it, so I hope you liked that too. How do you feel about Fitz standing up to his father and giving everything up for Liv? How do you feel about her coming clean to her father about Fitz? How do you think this renewed, refreshed journey they're starting together will pan out? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	13. Renewed

**This chapter is filled with lots of Olitz-lovin' so if you love that stuff then you'll love this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13: Renewed**

"I want to come clean to everyone about us—including my father."

Fitz cocks his head at her, surprised. "Really?"

Olivia nods surely assuredly. "Like you said earlier, I think we should take a chance on us, plus I'm tired of letting other people dictate my life, especially my father. I know he won't accept us but we have my mom on our side—I don't think she hates you anymore. I won't have all the support I was banking on before for my career but I know I can make it with you by my side."

"As long as you're sure. I don't want you to feel pressured to make a decision that you haven't thought through, and from what you've told me and what I've heard about your father, maybe we should think it through a little more."

"But I have—I've been thinking about this ever since we started dating and gone through all of the options and I've come to the conclusion that there's really no easy way around it. We're going to just have to come right out with it and tell him because he'll have the same reaction no matter what we do. So, I'll just tell him and deal with the consequences because we are going to be together no matter what anyone thinks."

He smiles. "Okay, baby—and we'll tell him together. I didn't want you to be there when I told my father because I know how awful he can be and I didn't want you to get hurt, but hopefully I can handle your dad. Though, I was hoping we could tell him in about a week or so because I still have yet to give you one of your Christmas and birthday presents."

"Yeah? And what would that be?"

He gives her a sly smile.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next morning Olivia wakes up at her mom's house, still feeling sore from their love-making from the day before. _Damn, Fitz,_ she can't help thinking as she slowly eases her way down the stairs and limps to the kitchen. She doesn't hear anyone else downstairs, luckily, since she wants some quiet time to herself before everyone starts asking her why she's wobbling around.

She starts looking in the family's medicine drawer for birth control pills that her mom most likely used before she decided she wanted to have another child, checking there first before going to the pharmacy. If Olivia and Fitz were going to keep sleeping together, which she really hoped for because those few minutes of pure love-making with him were easily the best of her life, she'd have to be on the pill because she wasn't quite ready to be a mom yet.

After fishing for a couple minutes, she finds an unopened pack, reads the directions, and goes to get a glass of water to take the pill when her phone beeps and she sees that it's a text from Fitz: _Good morning, beautiful_

She smiles gratefully, since he used to wake her up with that phrase every day: _Good morning, mister. You really did a number on me yesterday…_

Fitz: _Lol still sore?_

Olivia: _Mmhmm_

Fitz: _Maybe I was little too rough but I did say u would get the full FTGIII experience ; )_

Olivia: _I guess it really was just as great as I thought it would be…maybe better._

Fitz: _Maybe?_

Olivia: _Infinitely better._

Fitz: _Good. Just wait until I get u into a bed—we be all night, love, love, we be all night…_

Olivia: _Lol did u seriously just quote Beyoncé?_

Fitz: _Mmhmm, I could send u a vid of me singing it in my sexy man voice._

Olivia laughs: _I think I'll pass… ; )_

Fitz: _But I thought you liked it when I sang to u : (_

Olivia: _I do…ur really going to do it?_

A minute later, he sends a video of him singing ten seconds of "Drunk In Love" at first in his low baritone and then he switches to a silly falsetto but stops when his voice cracks and ends the video with a few choice words.

Olivia: _Ur such a dork. I loved it._

Fitz: _Lol a dork with the best voice in all existence_

Olivia: _Yeah, Bey has nothing on u ; )_

Fitz: _This is why I love u._

Olivia: _Is that the only reason?_

Fitz: _Let me pick u up and you'll find out : ) Round 2 can definitely still happen in the back of my car if ur down for it._

Olivia: _U R incorrigible :D_

Fitz: _But u still love me all the same._

Olivia: _To the moon and back._

She's about to ask him when him when he's coming over to talk with her family when she hears from behind her, "Olivia." She turns around to see her mom strolling into the kitchen. She quickly takes the pack of birth control pills and hides them behind her back, leaning against the counter, not really knowing quite what to tell her mom.

"Oh, hey, Mom," she says.

"Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?"

Olivia nods. "Mmhmm, I slept pretty well…" A complete understatement since she had slept like a baby after spending all that time with Fitz, especially with all the dirty dreams of him running through her head.

"So, how did things go with Fitz? Sorry that I didn't wait up for you but you seemed to really be taking your time," she says, smiling.

Olivia cheeks flush. "Uh…yeah, things went really well between us. We made up and now we're back together."

"It'd be nice for him to come over again so that we can talk."

"Yeah, I was going to invite him over this afternoon if you're fine with that, just to talk to you and Grandpa before he and Grandma leave tonight."

She nods. "That will work. I'm really glad to see you happy again, honey. I hope things continue to work out with you and Fitz—I see how much you love him and you shouldn't let that go."

"I hope it works out, too, I'm going to try as hard as I can to make sure that it does. I was planning on telling Dad about him—I can only imagine how he'll react but I'm doing it. It's only fair to Fitz since he's already told his father."

Maya raises her eyebrows. "He told Big Gerry about you guys? How did that go?"

"Not so well…he's no longer on good terms with his dad—he's out in the cold money-wise and he did it all for me," Olivia tells her mom as the vastness of what Fitz has done hits her again.

"Wow, he really has guts and he must really be head over heels for you." She sighs. "Your father, however is…something else," Maya says, remembering just how awful Eli can be. "He will be difficult, but know I'm always here to support you in everything you do." She walks up to Olivia. "You still have another parent that cares for your happiness and well-being."

She smiles. "Thanks, Mom."

"Wanna help me with breakfast?"

"Yeah," Olivia says, stepping back from the counter but then she remembers that the pack of pills is still in her hand and before she can hide it, her mom sees and asks, "What are…oh."

Olivia nods slowly, not making any eye contact, already feeling extremely awkward. She can only imagine what her mom will say when she sees Olivia wobbling around.

Maya is unable to keep a smile from creeping onto her face. "Well, now I know what kept you so long yesterday."

She shakes her head in annoyance, desperately wanting this conversation to be over before it gets worse. "Mom…"

"I'm sorry—it's just you're growing up so fast. Was he your first time?"

Olivia nods subtly and sighs. "Can we stop talking about this now?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. As long as you're being safe—and make sure you take one every day."

"Yeah…I will. I'm going to go put this in my room, so I'll be right back," she says quietly, feeling her cheeks getting warm.

Maya nods and Olivia takes off toward the stairs, trying to walk properly for the ten steps she has until she makes it around the corner.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Around 3pm, Fitz arrives at Olivia's house, feeling nervous but ready for the conversation he's about to have with her family members. Olivia welcomes him into the house and just seeing her calms down some of his nerves. She gives him a reassuring kiss before taking him to the kitchen, where her mom and her grandpa are already waiting.

"Fitzgerald," Grandpa Joe says, not withholding any malice in his tone.

"Sir, ma'am," Fitz says back, addressing both him and Olivia's mom. Maya raises her eyebrows at him, feeling either impressed or skeptical of him. They all take a seat around the small table in the room and Fitz takes a deep breath before starting, "I know you'll find it hard to forgive me for what I did to Olivia or maybe you won't forgive me at all, but I have to give you my all my biggest apology. I'm so sorry for not treating her in the way that she deserved and for deceiving you guys but I have fixed my mistakes. I broke things off with the other girl so that I can be with Olivia because I really do love her and I wouldn't even think of doing what I did to her ever again. I know she deserves better than me but I can't live without her, she's my whole world, she's my everything so I can't just let her go, but I know how important you guys are to her and how much you care for her well-being, so if you would both give me another chance to prove to you that I really do have her best interests at heart, it would mean so much to me."

Fitz looks back at their pensive faces as his heart beats out of his chest. Olivia takes his hand in hers and rubs comforting circles with her thumb across his skin. Finally Grandpa Joe breaks his silence and says sternly, "What you did wasn't a mistake, it was a decision."

Fitz nods slowly. "It was—a very bad decision which I will regret making for the rest of my life, but you have my word that it'll never happen again."

"And what good is your word, Fitz? How would I be able to trust that it wouldn't happen again? Because if it were to happen again, God help me."

"Dad, cut the man some slack," Maya says finally. "I was very upset at what they did and angry at Fitz especially for going along with it, but he has proved that he really loves Olivia and deeply regrets the decision he made. I'm also very impressed by the fact that he had the guts to meet with us and ask for our forgiveness face-to-face. Fitz, I can tell that deep down you are not a bad guy and truly care for my daughter through all you've done, and I know that she loves you very much too. You guys still have some ways to go to build your relationship the right way but I am willing to give you another chance, Fitz, and be in favor of this relationship." She gives him a heartening smile, which he returns. "But I can't say the same for my father."

They all turn to Grandpa Joe who still has a firm scowl on his face and is refusing to even look in Fitz's direction. After Maya's confession of support, Fitz thought he had a chance of being back in Olivia's family's good graces again but now he's not so sure since it doesn't look like Grandpa Joe is budging.

Olivia finally gets tired of his stubbornness and firmly addresses him, "Grandpa, look at me." He gazes over at her reluctantly and she continues, "Fitz came over here to make up for what happened—he didn't have to do that, but he did because he's as committed to me as I am to him and he cares about how you view him and I do as well to some extent, but I need you to know that no matter what you say, I'm going to be with him because I love him, and that's not the hormones talking, it's the way I've felt since the day we met and I've never stopped feeling that way, even when we weren't on good terms. He made a mistake—we both did but I want us to move on past it and grow stronger. So, I need you to know that I will stick by him even if you don't agree with my decision, but I would really prefer it if you could forgive him."

Grandpa Joe sighs and looks at Fitz contemplatively while Fitz searches for an answer in his eyes. After several seconds more, he shrugs and says, "Well, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice here, does it?"

Everyone continues to look back at him as he nods acceptingly. "Okay, then. I will give you another shot, Fitzgerald, but it will take a lot of convincing for me to trust you again. My granddaughter is a very smart young woman so I will trust her judgment here and go along with it—just don't make me regret it, though."

Fitz is finally able to breathe as he says, "Thank you so much, sir, I will work hard to make sure that you don't regret this."

Grandpa Joe nods and Fitz and Olivia exchanging victorious smiles. Fitz hugs Olivia to him, kissing the edge of her hair, needing to be closer to her.

"Well, now that that's been settled, will you be staying for dinner, Fitz?" Maya asks, getting up from the table and pulling out some pots and pans from the kitchen cabinets.

Fitz smiles at her. "Yes, ma'am. And I would be glad to help you prepare a meal, but first Olivia and I wanted to tell you something."

Both Maya and Grandpa Joe snap their heads back at him and give him alarmed expressions before Maya asks edgily, "Did you propose to her?"

"Um, no. Not yet, anyways…" Fitz tells her.

"Are you pregnant?" Grandpa Joe practically yells at Olivia, looking like he's about to have a heart attack.

"No, grandpa. Would you please calm down?" Olivia says, staring at him like he's a crazy person. "All we were going to say is that we're going to Fiji for a week and a half before we go back to school. It's Fitz's belated Christmas and early birthday present to me."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Two days later

They arrive in Fiji around noon after an 11-hour flight that leaves them seriously jet-lagged. As Fitz drives them to the place they'll be staying at for the week, which he promises she's going to love, Olivia gazes out at the beautiful scenery before her, marveling at the luscious green landscapes around them and the crystal clear blue water below them that she couldn't wait to dip her feet into. Olivia had always wanted to go to a tropical island because they were so much more impressive and exotic than the beaches back in California. Olivia had surprisingly never vacationed on a tropical island with her family since her father had only taken them on a few trips with him that were work-related and made them into vacations, which usually ended up taking place in crowded, city-like areas of Europe and sometimes Asia. They had never even been to Hawaii. So, Olivia was over the moon when she found out that she would finally get to go where she always wanted, especially with the person she loved more than anything.

They continue to drive, passing an area of big and small vacation homes until the road they're on becomes shadier because of the forest trees and after five minutes more they drive up a small hill, finally arriving at a medium-sized house that's surrounded by exquisite shrubbery and covered by palm trees. It looks like your average residential one-story home in the suburbs, but as she looks around a little more, she sees that they're surrounded by the striking greenish-blue water on almost sides and that the house has its own personal beach a little farther down. Olivia and Fitz get out of the car, with Fitz insisting that he wheel her suitcase in for her but she shoots him down, telling him that she's perfectly capable of doing it herself.

He whips out a key and opens the door, leading them into a large space which contains the house's living room, with two couches and a flat screen, and a very nice kitchen that seemed to be entirely made out of wood. The she glances down a hallway to see about four doorways presumably leading to other bedrooms. She can already feel herself getting comfortable in this home and can see herself enjoying the next week and half with him there. She loves how spacious it is and how light seems to just naturally feel up the place through the windows. However, it was a little big for just the two of them and she felt a little guilty that he might've spent all this money on her while he was still recovering from being shut off from his dad's assets.

"Well, this is really amazing," Olivia says, putting her suitcase down on the wooden tile floor. "But it looks pretty big—how much did it cost?"

He walks up to her, taking her hand in his, and telling her, "First of all, you are not worrying about the cost of anything on this trip. I'm not broke, I still have quite a lot of money and this is my gift to you. But honestly, this place didn't cost a cent because I own it. It belonged to my grandparents on my mom's side. They had it built decades ago because they loved vacationing here so much—one time when I was a kid, I actually stayed with them here for about two weeks. But when they passed away they gave it to my mom and when she died, it was signed over to me in her will so now it's mine. Sometimes I rent it out to make money of my own, but it's all ours for the next week."

"Wow," is all she can say but then yawns as sleep calls out to her.

"Come on, I'll show you our bedroom. We can catch a nap because I am seriously jetlagged."

Olivia agrees as they wheel their suitcases to the last room at the end of the hallway and walk into what she assumes to be the master bedroom, with an extravagant, king-sized bed and a flat screen of its own, along with a fridge and microwave next to the TV, a laptop on a glass table, and a bathroom and walk-in closet. Olivia takes in the room, loving the idea of staying there even more as she yawns again.

"Lay down," Fitz tells her and she doesn't hesitate to do as he says. As soon as Olivia touches the soft, silky sheets, she collapses onto the bed and lays her head on the cushiony pillow, breathing in its fresh scent. Fitz kneels at the end of the bed and takes her shoes off and after kicking off his loafers, he climbs in after her, wrapping his arm around her and burying his face into her hair. Within minutes they're both knocked out.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

They wake up around 6pm, feeling much more refreshed, but also very hungry. Fitz looks in the tourist info packet they got at the airport and spots a restaurant not too far away that might be good to start their first night off in Fiji. They decide to change out of their slightly warm California December weather clothes and into something more comfortable for the Fijian climate. Olivia opts for a purple maxi dress which makes her look stunning as ever and Fitz changes from his long-sleeved shirt and pants to a tank top that shows of his muscles pretty well and some cargo shorts with his loafers.

The restaurant, which is more of a pub, is generally sectioned off into two areas—eating and dancing and the two areas are far apart enough so that neither side is disturbing the other. Fitz finds this just perfect because they would not only have a good meal but also have something fun to do afterwards. As they chow down on their delicious Fijian food, they look over the tourist manual, discussing everything that they want to get done in their time there.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Fitz asks, leaning back in his seat, feeling as relaxed as ever.

"Yes," Olivia replies, giving him a heartwarming smile. "Thank you for arranging this."

"Your wish is my command," he says, smirking. "So, what do you want to do for your b-day tomorrow?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know, I haven't really been that into celebrating my birthday since I was a kid. Though, I did have a pretty big party for my sixteenth, but only because Abby insisted."

"Well, I'm making tomorrow all about you and we _are_ celebrating whether you like it or not. I have a surprise for you at the end of the day."

She rolls her eyes at him but cracks a smile. "Do you ever run out of surprises?"

"Nope, so you can expect many more to come in the future. And believe me, they'll only get better." He winks at her and gets up, telling her that he's going to find a restroom and will be right back.

He comes back two minutes later after relieving himself to see Olivia standing by the bar, presumably ordering up a drink and some suave-looking guy, leaning against the counter, flashing his teeth at her. Olivia looks disinterested and seems to be trying to ignore him, which calms Fitz down a little, but the pang of jealousy in his chest flares up again when he hears the guy say, "So, gorgeous, would you like to dance?"

"Mmm…no thanks," Olivia says, looking away from him passively as the bartender hands her a pina colada.

"Come on, you look like you're dying to hit that floor and I know I could give you a real good time," the guy says, giving another one of his ridiculous smiles. Fitz had already had two not-so-great encounters with Olivia's male suitors and he was about to have a third if this guy didn't back off. He had promised himself that he would calm down when things like this happened, especially after the altercation with Edison and because he knew that these things would probably occur a lot more in the future because Olivia was absolutely breath-taking, but he found it even harder to keep his cool now that she was finally his and he didn't want anything to ruin it. Fitz decides this is enough and makes his way over to them.

She shakes her head no. "I'm fine." The guy opens his mouth, about to try to convince her again when Fitz walks up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and gently pulling her away from the guy. He kisses her neck slowly and sensually, earning a quiet moan out of her as he keeps eye contact with the guy, who looks pissed as ever. He places his chin on her shoulder and says in his low baritone voice, "Dance with me. I love this song."

"Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus and Pliers starts playing and Olivia agrees with him, already feeling the rhythm creeping its way into her body. Without hesitation, she flips around in his embrace and smiles at him. She pecks him on the lips and slides past him, putting her drink on the bar counter, then takes him by the hand, leading him to the dance floor. "So do I."

Olivia takes them to a spot in the middle of the dancing crowd with enough room for the two of them and starts swaying her hips to the music with her hands up in the air. She turns around and leans into him, wrapping a hand around his neck as he places his hands on her hips. He follows her as she smoothly leads him down towards the floor and back up again, not missing a beat as she drives her ass into his growing erection, continuing to move her body in a way that Fitz had only dreamed of witnessing. To him, this was a whole new sexy side of her, similar to the side he got to see when she was dancing at that party a few months ago, but now she was all his and he could enjoy every bit of her. They continue to move in sync, rocking their bodies in perfect rhythm with the song. By the time it's over, Fitz feels like he's been on a rollercoaster ride and can't wait to take her back to the beach house to finish out the night.

She turns back to face him as Rihanna's "What's My Name" starts playing, her eyes full of satisfaction at his stupefied but impressed expression. Before he can say anything, she wraps her arms around his neck and roughly pulls him to her in that way that thoroughly turns him on. She smiles seductively at him and then starts rolling her body on his, sensually sliding her hands down his chest, never breaking eye contact with him with those eyes that make him feel like he's the most important person in the room. Fitz had never been so dazed in his life, especially on the dance floor, since he had hit numerous clubs over the years where he would usually pick up his one night stands, but she was making him feel like a boy experiencing his first love, and in a way he was, but now he was going to show her what he had. He quickly shakes himself out of his daze when she gives him a concerned look and spins her around, taking her hands in his and raising them towards the sky as he grinds hard against her from behind. He slides his hands down her sides and rests them back on her hips, thankful that they're in the darkness as he guides her ass further into him and nibbles on her ear as she runs her fingers through his curls. Fitz feel himself slipping into a different state of mind, aching to connect with her. After about a minute of this, he can hardly take it any longer and is about to start ripping her clothes off. He let's go of her hips and grabs her hand, rushing them out of the club and back towards their car.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia can't help but smile and laugh inwardly as Fitz speeds down the streets on his way back to their beach house like a man on a mission—and he was presumably on a mission to get her into a bed and get to work as fast possible.

He barely shuts the front door to the beach house behind them as he crashes his lips down on hers like they're the air he's starving for. She grabs the edge of his shirt and pulls it off. She jumps up and wraps her legs around his waist as he catches her and rushes them toward their bedroom, which is dimly lit by the moonlight. He throws her onto the bed and hikes up her dress, sliding his hands up her thighs until he reaches her panties, which are soaked. He swiftly pulls them off then quickly undoes the zipper on his shorts. Olivia had never seen him so wild with such a hungry look in his eyes and she just hoped that she would be ready for him this time. He enters her fast, going almost completely inside as he thrusts her hard. His junk still feels so huge inside of her but he seems to fit in much better than the last time. She starts moaning and screaming his name as they shake the bed so hard that she feels like they're in a 10.0 earthquake. The familiar high comes back to her and she feels like her chest is about to explode from the joy it's giving her. He stops after almost a minute and a half of thrusts to rest his drive but even though she can't feel her legs any more she still hasn't had enough as she cries, "Again, Fitz, don't stop! Go deeper and harder!"

He braces himself and does exactly as she says, putting so much force into her that she thinks she might black out. He takes a few more breaks and then continues on his rampage, and finally after ten minutes he pulls out of her for the last time and collapses next to her as they both pant like they just ran a marathon. Olivia is about to say something but her voice gives out, feeling hoarse from all of the yelling she did. It was a good thing that their beach house was fairly far away from any other houses or places or else they would've woken everyone up and no doubt had someone show up at their front door asking what was going on. She wondered what they would do when they were at the apartment.

Olivia pulls off the dress the rest of the way, unclips her bra, and kicks off her sandals. She looks at Fitz, who's already watching her with an expression that she can't quite read. Her eyes catch the loafers still on his feet and she crawls to the edge of the bed, taking the shoes off his feet and then moves back to him, where he's still watching her with that strange look.

She blushes, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest. "What?"

He cracks her a smile. "It's just…I don't know how I was able to find someone so perfect like you to be the special person in my life. You're the most beautiful woman that I've ever laid my eyes on. I love you so much, Livvie. I don't deserve you."

Her heart breaks at the sad, guilty look on his face and Olivia is able to see that underneath the wild macho-ness of his exterior is the softness and sensitivity that comes with his vulnerability—which he only let's her see.

"Oh, Fitz…" she says, moving towards him and positioning herself on top of him so that she can get the best look into his eyes. She brushes away the curls sticking to his sweaty forehead and gently takes his face in her hands until his baby blues meet with her chocolate browns. "You know that I love you with all of my heart and true love also allows for forgiveness and moving on. We're beginning a new chapter in our lives, Fitz. This is the new us with no more lies or secrets or guilt from the past. So, in order for us to move on with this relationship, I need you to promise me that you won't feel guilty or ashamed about the past. Because I'm not blaming you for everything that happened, it was partially my fault, too, but I want us to move on to something greater and better, so I've forgiven us both for what happened. It's time for you to do that, too."

He looks away for a long moment and then nods slowly. "Okay."

He sighs, like huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he smiles at her. "So, this is the new us."

"This is the new us," she agrees.

He wraps his arms around her, pulling her face down closer to his. He kisses her lips softly and sweetly and then says, "Well, I love the new us…and the sex."

She grins. "The sex is great, especially when you thrust me like you've been possessed by some sex god."

He lets out a belly laugh long enough to make her join in with him. "Well, I think my libido might've been a little enhanced by the way you were teasing the crap out of me back at the club."

"That wasn't teasing, that was dancing. And you're not so bad yourself," she tells him, winking.

He smirks. "Mmhmm, thanks. Where'd you learn to move like that?"

"What, rich, good girls can't get down once in a while? They do like to party and dance and maybe get a little wasted. I've been clubbing since I was a freshman in high school—at underage clubs, of course."

He nods. "That's right, teenage rebels go hard, that explains it." She laughs.

"And by the way, I like the good girl in you but I also love it when the bad comes out—as long as it's only for me."

"Hmm, possessive, are we?"

He nods vigorously. "Yep, you are all mine. And this is especially mine," he says, placing his hands firmly on her ass.

"I guess that means that the handsome hunk under me is also mine, along with his big boy," she says, sliding her hand down to his crotch.

He moans at her touch and then clears his throat, feeling his junk starting to harden. "Oh, you are most definitely ready for round two."

"Bring it," she tells him as he flips her around so that he's on top and immediately gets to work. After another love session, this one not as intense or fiery as the last one but still very fulfilling, Fitz collapses onto the bed again, taking her into his arms as she lays her now messy head of hair on his shoulder. She begins to toy with his chest hair, something she never thought she would like on a guy, but Fitz had just enough to make it manly and sexy. She plays with the tiny curls but assumes she pulled one a little too hard when she feels him tense up for a second. She then switches to laying consoling, gentle kisses along the skin and eventually rests her head comfortably on his chest, joining him in staring out the window at the full moon hanging over the vast sea. They engage in more conversation which leads to more displays of affection which leads to a few more rounds of love-making, before they become thoroughly exhausted and finally fall asleep around three in the morning, with the both of them quite possibly having the best sleep they've had in their entire lives.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz wakes up in a mess of blankets and sheets to the sun shining bright in his face. He glances over at the digital clock on his nightstand which reads 11:03 and thinks about how far behind he and Olivia are going to be on their day— her special day—and that's when he notices the cold feeling he feels whenever she isn't next to him. He gazes over to her side of the bed and sees that she's not there.

"Liv!" he calls out, getting a little panicked like he does when he knows that she slept over at the apartment for a fact but she wakes up before him and gets out of bed, making him feel as if she hadn't been there at all which is one of the worst feelings he wakes up to.

"I'm in here," she calls from the bathroom. "Just a sec."

He waits impatiently, wondering what she could be doing since she's barely making any noise except for an occasional water faucet sound. He tells himself to calm down, starting notice that he's being a little too needy but he can't help himself. After spending an entire night making love to the woman of his dreams, he wants to be at her side at every moment.

After a minute more, she comes out of the bathroom with her hair up in a messy bun, wearing his Harvard sweatshirt which almost reaches down to her knees. He notices her wobbling a little and is about to ask what's wrong when he remembers how wild they got the night before—or rather how wild he got. He reminisces about their love-making sessions—how awesome it felt to connect with her on such a deep level, how much he loved hearing her scream his name at the top of her lungs, how much he loved that look on her face and sound she makes when he hits just the right spot. He had thoroughly enjoyed exploring every single inch of her body and seeing just what exactly made her go off the deep end and he couldn't wait to do it again later that night since he was sure their love-making spree would continue well into the night like it had just before.

"Good morning, mister," she greets, giving him that smile that automatically brightens up his day. "Did you sleep well? I know I did."

"Yeah, I did. I honestly think that that was the best sleep I've ever had in my life but I wish I could've woken up next to you."

She twists her face into an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry. I woke up about an hour ago but I didn't want to wake you up too since you seemed so rested, so I just laid in bed for a while kind of watching you sleep…" she tells him with a sheepish look.

He quirks an eyebrow at her questioningly, even though he already knows that she likes to watch him sleep, having had faint memories of her precious brown doe eyes staring back at him and also having seen a few of the pictures of him with his eyes closed on the heart of photos that she made him. If anyone else had done it he would've deemed it creepy but with her, he didn't seem to mind. It just seemed to be one of the several eccentricities that made her who she is and he wouldn't have her any other way.

He smirks at her. "Well, as strange as that sounds, it doesn't really bother me. But will you come join me now? My body is aching for you."

She climbs onto the bed but instead of sliding in next to him under the covers, she sits on his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and folding her hands around his neck, her eyes filled with lust as she gives him a sexy smile. "How's this?"

He can feel his member starting to harden as he rubs his hands across her thighs. He wants to lay her down and give her some morning loving but he knows he has to do something else first. "Much better, but first I wanted to say—"

He's interrupted by her phone ringing on the nightstand. She glances over at it and closes her eyes, looking annoyed and letting out a few choice words. She climbs off of him and reaches for the phone before, looking back at him and saying, "It's my Dad."

"Don't answer it," Fitz tells her firmly. "He's only going to say something to upset you and I don't want that gorgeous smile to ever leave your face." He can already see her happiness and peacefulness vanishing and worry taking over the look of contentment in her eyes.

She gives him a small smirk. "I have to. He's just going to keep calling if I don't and he'll probably be even angrier when I talk to him later."

Fitz sighs, hoping that whatever her father's calling about doesn't put a damper on their day. She answers the call as she pulls aside the blanket covering his naked body and settles herself comfortably between his legs, leaning into his chest as she says in the most plain voice, "Hi, Dad."

Fitz wraps his arms around her stomach, holding her tense body tightly to his to comfort her as she responds to Eli's greeting.

"I'm good…how are you?"

Fitz waits anxiously as Eli speaks, wondering what he's telling Olivia. After about half a minute, she replies, "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do that, Dad. I'm on a skiing trip with one of my friends in Vienna right now and we won't be back until next week—I didn't think to tell you."

He must be trying to make her go somewhere. They hadn't even been a full day into their trip and now Eli might ruin it. Fitz knew he shouldn't have let her answer the phone.

"I can't do that," Olivia firmly says again.

Eli speaks again then once he's finished Olivia takes a deep breath, her confidence waning as she says shakily, "And what if I don't want to go on this date with Edison? What if I don't even like him?" _Edison again?_ Fitz feels his blood boiling at this, wanting more than anything to give Eli a piece of his mind about what he thinks of him and Edison, but for Olivia's sake, he tries to relax and let her handle it. Olivia senses his tension and quickly kisses his shoulder to soothe him before saying to her father in a small but assured voice, "Sorry, but I'm—I'm not coming. I know everything isn't about what I want but in this case I'm being selfish because this is my life and I should get to choose what I do with it. I don't want to go on a date with Edison and I really don't want to have anything to do with him any longer. He's a bit of a pig and not someone that I can envision myself ever marrying, so it's not happening. You may not like my decision, Dad, but that's what I'm doing so please tell Edison 'goodbye' for me." And with that she hangs up.

For several seconds she continues to lie there on Fitz, frozen until he urges her, "Liv?"

She turns around on his lap so that she's facing him and just stares at him with a dazed expression. "I did it. I actually stood up to my father. I can't believe that I really hang up on him." He continues to look at her as she gets lost in her thoughts and he can tell that she's starting to overthink things so he tries to pull her back.

Eli calls again but Fitz just takes her phone and turns it off, not wanting Olivia to get troubled than she already is. He takes her hands in his and says, "Talk to me, Liv. What's going through your head?"

She shrugs. "I don't know…this isn't the first time my father and I have had a disagreement like that, of course, but I've never just shut him down like that. It feels so weird…I just—I don't know."

"Are you regretting it?" Fitz asks hesitantly, looking at her unsure expression.

She slowly shakes her head as if she's coming to a realization. "No. I mean, was I scared to do it and am I still a little edgy? Yes, but finally standing up to him like this makes me feel rejuvenated in a way, you know? It feels almost as if a huge weight is slowly being lifted off."

He nods, giving her a small smile. "This is the new us. Without all the secrets and lies and burdens from the past. Like you said, we're renewed."

She returns the smile. "Yes, we are." She then lays her head on his shoulder as he hugs her to him.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" She asks after a few minutes of silence.

Fitz remembers what he was going to do, smirking as he reaches for his suitcase by the bed, zips it open and pulls out of one of the large pockets a small silver gift box with a pastel pink bow around it, handing it to her. "Open it."

"Fitz, you didn't have to…" she starts to say but he urges her on. Besides the Fiji trip, which Olivia had told Fitz she always wanted to go on that she now had, he had found it difficult deciding on what to give her for her birthday since it was kind of hard to know what to get other rich people since they could pretty much have anything they wanted and he didn't feel as if just any present, no matter how expensive, would be good enough, so he came to the conclusion that the best gifts were hand-made with personal meaning in them and he crafted something.

She opens the box to find a necklace with decorative, colorful, wooden beads, but instead of making just any necklace, Fitz decided to do something special and unique with it. He carved their most memorable dates for him into the beads—the day he met her, the day they decided to start a relationship, the day he took her out on their real first date, the day he gave her a key to his apartment, and the most recent one which was the day they made love for the first time and decided to renew their relationship. There are only five beads so far but he hopes there will be many more to come. He watches her face as she gazes over the necklace and slowly figures out what he did. She looks back at him with the most wonderstruck expression as tears begin to tug at her eyes.

"Fitz…" she manages to choke out.

"Happy birthday, beautiful," he tells her, with the biggest smile on his face. She matches his expression, tackling him in a hug and he intercepts her just as happily, feeling her tears streaming down his back. He rubs circles along her back. She pulls back to face him and says, "This is perfect. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I got the idea from that heart of pictures of us that you made, which I loved. I just wanted you to know how much I cherish these days I've spent with you so far, so I made you a constant, tangible reminder of how much you mean to me. There's still a lot of room so I hope there will be many more days to add to it."

"This is probably the best gift I've ever gotten. Thank you for putting so much effort into it." She kisses him on the lips and he pulls back before they can deepen it, making her frown at him.

"Turn around for a second so that I can put it on and then I'm all yours afterwards." She does as he says and then he slips the jewelry around her neck, tying the string together and leaving a lingering kiss on the back of her neck afterwards, making her shiver.

They engage in a long session of love-making before finally getting up and deciding to hit the shower together, which ends up being a huge mistake because they end up enticing each other into three rounds of shower sex, spending almost thirty minutes 'bathing'. By the time it's done, instead of feeling refreshed and ready for their day to start, which has now been condensed to just seven hours of daylight since they probably won't get out of the house until noon, he feels pretty exhausted from their sexcapades. He was starting to feel like he had created a monster because whenever Olivia got the least bit horny, she would tease the crap out of him and make him hit her with all he had. And he couldn't resist and often got carried away so he wouldn't stop coming at her until her legs went numb and she was screaming his name so loud that her voice went hoarse. The inner animal in them both came out every single time they went at it and if the sex continued to be this mind-blowing, they were going to have at least ten kids.

As they fish around their suitcases, looking for clothes to wear, Fitz sees that Olivia can hardly walk which makes him feel immediate pride at his work but also a little guilt that she's struggling so much because of their sessions of pleasure. He tells her to sit on the bed while he gets her clothes for her, so that maybe she'll recover a little before they go out. They sit around for thirty more minutes until she tells him that she's okay enough to walk. She still wobbles a little bit but most people would just think she had a slight limp if they didn't know what had really happened. By noon, as Fitz predicted, they leave the house and head for the beach.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

There was a beach right in front of their house but Fitz said he wanted to take them to Natadola Beach, which happened to be one of the best beaches in the area. They arrive at the site, where several couples and families are dispersed across the area and a band of horses are being ridden along the coast, which is a unique sight to Olivia. They get some refreshments at the snack bar at edge of the beach and once Olivia picks a spot about fifty feet away from the shore, they lay out a blanket and sit down, with Olivia in between his legs. The sun is high in the sky and the weather feels perfect, making Olivia glad that she didn't put on too much sunscreen.

"Hey, look, they have surfing lessons," Olivia says, pointing farther towards the water where a small group of people are in the water, sitting on surfboards and facing an instructor.

"Yeah, I heard that they have a pretty good surfing school around here, but I actually do know how to surf pretty well so if you want, I'd be glad to teach you. Besides, that instructor is being way too hands on," Fitz says, frowning at the young, muscular, tan surfing teacher who has his hand on the thigh of one of his female pupils. "Uhn-uh, that's not going to work for me."

She rolls her eyes, smiling at his possessiveness. "Well, I'm not sure I want to surf, actually. I think I'll make too much of a fool of myself but boogie boarding sounds fun. I saw some boards for rent back at some hut where we got these drinks from."

He nods. "Alright, we can do that, too. Just tell me when you're ready."

About a half hour later, they rent two of the boogie boards and head out down to the sea. Olivia strips down to her white bikini suit that she had bought a while back and never gotten to wear and she knows that she picked the perfect time to try it out because Fitz can't keep his eyes off her.

Once they reach the shore, she marvels at the beautiful, clear blue water that has a sort of glow to it. As soon as she puts her feet in the water, she's surprised to discover the moderate almost warm temperature of it as opposed to the almost icy cold water she's had to get used to in California. Olivia had decided to leave her hair natural after her and Fitz's shower together and would probably end up leaving it that way for the rest of the trip since they would most likely be doing a lot activities in water. Besides, Fitz loved her hair that way since he could bury his face in her tight curls.

Once they come out of the water, Fitz says he'll take the boogie boards back to the hut so Olivia returns to their blanket of stuff. She waits for a few minutes, looking out at the ocean and ogles at its beauty and serenity, but she notices that Fitz is taking a little longer than he should so she turns around towards the direction of the hut and sees some blonde in a bikini, twirling her hair and smiling flirtatiously at Fitz as he stands awkwardly at the counter of the hut, seemingly waiting for something. Olivia fumes at this sight, not really mad at Fitz because he seems to be trying his best to ignore her, but when she sees the girl reaching to put a hand on Fitz's shoulder, she stands up.

"What the hell?" Olivia mutters, standing up, ready to march over there and get up in her face. Besides the whole ordeal with Mellie, Olivia hadn't felt this way ever really, since she and Fitz had almost always spent time together at the apartment so she hadn't had to endure other girls gawking at him. He was usually the one getting jealous over her suitors and it's not like she had forgotten how handsome he was because that was most definitely not the case, but she hadn't expected to see other girls throwing themselves at him so soon. She couldn't help but feel so jealous now that he was finally all hers and she couldn't stand the thought of anything ruining that.

She finally starts to make her way over to them, clenching her hands at her sides. She comes up to them and the girl quickly glances at her and then turns her attention back to Fitz, but the smile is wiped off her face as soon as Olivia walks up to Fitz and slides her arm around his waist, saying, "Hey, babe. I was just wondering what was taking you so long." She glares at the girl.

She can feel that he's tense but he immediately relaxes at her touch. "I was just switching out a twenty for some fives."

"Oh, you have a girlfriend," the girl says in the most annoyingly high-pitched voice Olivia has ever heard.

_Now that you know, you can go now, bitch_, Olivia feels like saying, barely able to contain herself, but instead she puts her hand to the back of Fitz's head and tilts his face down towards hers, connecting their lips. He kisses her back without hesitation, deepening the motion and slipping his hands to her waist. Olivia opens her eyes and glances at the girl who has a disgusted look on her face. Olivia waves goodbye to her and the blonde glowers back at her before finally taking off.

Fitz continues to kiss Olivia for a few seconds more and then pulls back, raising his eyebrows at her, trying to suppress a smile. "Where did that come from?"

"What?" Olivia says, downplaying her possessiveness.

"I think someone just got very jealous. You forget that it's very rude to stick your tongue down someone's throat when you have an audience."

She rolls her eyes and says firmly, "Well, maybe that will teach her to back off of other people's boyfriends, especially mine."

He smirks at her as the guy manning the hut comes back and gives Fitz his money and they head back to their pile of stuff, hand-in-hand.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Since it was Olivia's birthday, Fitz had said they could spend the remainder of the day doing whatever she wanted up until about 7pm because of the surprise for her back at the beach house. They leave the beach around 1:30 and have lunch at a nearby café and after looking through their tourist packet, Olivia decides on going to the Kula Eco Park, Fiji's only wildlife park, for a while and then getting massages at a parlor not too far away afterwards.

They make it back to the house around 6:30 and Fitz tells Olivia to hang out in the living room while he prepares her surprise. About 45 minutes later, he texts her, telling her that she can go to their bedroom to get ready. She sees that the curtains for the glass sliding door that leads to outside are now covering the door, so she guesses whatever he has planned is taking place outside, probably by the beach.

Olivia washes the saltwater out of her hair but doesn't feel like pressing it, especially since they'll probably be doing a lot more swimming the next day, so she opts to leave it the way it is in a ponytail. She exits the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body but upon entering the bedroom, she sees something that wasn't there before she went to go take a shower—laid out on the bed is a sleeveless, cherry red sundress with a pair of matching sandals and a very revealing and sexy red bikini suit to supposedly wear underneath. She rolls her eyes and chuckles at his subtle, sneaky way of getting her to wear something he wants to see on her. She slips on the swimsuit, the dress, and sandals and then heads back into the bathroom to touch up her hair and do her make-up. Thirty minutes later when she's finished, she checks her phone for a text message from Fitz like she was instructed to do and sure enough, she sees an update: _At 8pm, make your way out of the room and follow the rose petals and the lights outside to your surprise_.

She checks the time and sees that it's already fifteen minutes past eight, so she does as he said, following the rose petals and electric candles down a dirt path outside until they lead her to the back of the house to the deck, which has candles spread out across the perimeter and rose petals encircling the already bubbling and steamy jacuzzi as well as two pillow pads and a blanket that has numerous dishes of food set up on it.

"Oh, wow," is all Olivia can say, as she takes the romantic picture in.

"Wow, indeed. You look spectacular," says a deep voice from behind her as she feels his strong arms circle around her waist from behind and his soft lips go for her neck, leaving wet kisses. She closes her eyes and breathes in her favorite cologne of his as they slowly begin to sway to the music that just started playing.

Olivia opens her eyes after about a minute and sees in front of her a middle-aged man playing a guitar, smiling back at her. She shifts her head so that she can get a glimpse of Fitz's face on her shoulder. "You hired a musician?"

He smiles and nods. "It was either him or a violinist, but I thought that you would prefer the guitarist. And don't worry, he's just staying for the eating portion of night. Once he leaves we can get as freaky as we want," he whispers, putting a hand on her ass and squeezing. A nervous laugh escapes from her as he takes his hand in hers and guides them to the blanket of food, letting go of her so that they can sit down on their opposing pillow mats. She sees that he's wearing a flowery, red Hawaiian shirt with a pair of white board shorts and flip-flops, matching the red theme of the night. He lifts the covers off of the food, revealing several different, exotic dishes that she can only assume are Fijian. They each grab plates and dish out the food that they want, which for Olivia is pretty much everything since she's curious as to how everything tastes and wants to try it all out. He pours them both glasses of red wine and then holds his up, she does the same and he says, "A toast to the most beautiful birthday girl in the world."

She blushes as they clink their glasses together and then dig into their food. They talk about how fun their day has been and how they can't wait to explore the island even more over the next week and a half. They continue to chat for almost another hour after finishing their food, the time passing them by like it always seems to do and by 9 o' clock, Olivia's ready for some jacuzzi time.

"Let's go in the jacuzzi. I know you're just dying to see me in the bikini you picked out for me," she says, winking at him.

He smirks at her and then excuses the guitarist after they thank him for his awesome performance. Olivia takes her time taking her dress off, teasing Fitz senselessly. She sees that he can hardly keep his hands at his sides as he's deliberating helping her out of the dress to speed things along. She finally slips out of the dress, revealing her sexy two-piece that teases cleavage all over. She smiles at him, going to the jacuzzi and seductively easing into the water as Fitz continues to stare at her with restless hands and his mouth hanging open. He finally regains his speech and says, "Yeah, things are about to get very eventful."

Fitz sets up his stereo and inserts his iPhone, starting the playlist he made for them with a Journey song. He slides into the water next to Olivia and takes her onto his lap, putting his arms around her and playfully rubbing his foot against her leg, making her giggle.

"Are you playing footsies with me, Fitzy?"

"Did you really just call me 'Fitzy'?" he asks, chuckling.

"Yeah…it's another potential nickname for you so I'm trying it on for size. Do you like it?" she asks, tilting her head up so that she can look at him.

"Yeah, I guess, I just haven't been called that in so long. The last time was back in the 7th grade by this girl named Annabelle who used to tease the crap out of me and I guess it was because she had a crush on me. Got my first kiss by her."

Olivia raises her eyebrows at him. "You got your first kiss in middle school?"

"Yeah. Is that surprising? When did you have yours?"

"Eight years old at a wedding when this goofy boy around the same age had been stalking me the whole time and decided to take a shot at me in front of everyone."

"I guess you've always been irresistible, huh?"

She rolls her eyes. "I don't know, I just assumed that a charmer like yourself would've had girls throwing themselves at you, even back then, and you would've welcomed them with open arms."

He feigns being offended. "Wow, Olivia, are you suggesting that 12 year-old me was a player?"

"No…well, okay, kind of. I'm just surprised that you never kissed anyone until then. You really don't realize your superpowers, Fitz, it's like sexiness and charisma is part of your DNA."

He laughs at this and says, "Well, I admit that I was a stud back then and actually did have girls throwing themselves at me, but I ignored them because I was still waiting for the most special girl in the world to come along and sweep me off my feet."

She turns and faces him, smiling. "Mmm, and who was that?"

"Annabelle," he answers with utmost seriousness, but bursts into laughter when she squints her eyes at him in a whole mixture of emotions.

"Ugh, you're full of it," she says, swatting his chest.

Once he stops laughing, he tells her, "Of course, it's you, babe. You're the one I've been starving to be with for twenty-five years and now that we're together, I know that'll never be completely satisfied because I'll never get enough of you."

She smirks. "Ditto. So…can I unwrap my final birthday present?" she asks, with that lustful gleam in her eyes that gets him every time.

"Jumping right to the chase, huh? Well, you know I'm more than happy to show you my superpowers," he says into her ear, deepening his voice seductively. He brushes his lips against hers and softly glides them across her skin, teasing her until he reaches her neck where he finally lays solid kisses, biting at her skin every time he pulls back.

"Fitz…" She moans.

"What do you want, Livvie?" he whispers against her neck, flicking his tongue against her skin.

"Uhn…you. Make love to me, Fitz," she tells him, tugging at his trunks. That's all he needs to hear to get to work. He's about to go for her bikini bottom but thinks of a better, more comfortable place to do this then the jacuzzi. He picks her up, carrying her out of the water fireman style as "Purple Rain" by Prince & The Revolution starts to play and he brings them over to the L-shaped sofa a few stairs lower on the deck. He positions himself on top of her, pressing his lips to hers in a slow, smooth, fervent kiss as their tongues dance happily together. He undoes the clasp on the back of her bikini top and caresses his way down her collarbone to her breasts, burying his face in them, earning a pleasurable moan out of her as her eyes roll back. He continues to leave sloppy, wet kisses all over her body for what feels like several blissful hours even though it's only been minutes, before he slips off her bikini bottom and begins to make love to her. He's dialed back from their rough and wild sessions and instead treats her like the most delicate flower in the world, slowly making love to her in a way that's gentle and sweet but wholly satisfying, still giving Olivia that wonderful high as he explores every inch of her like the night before. He intensifies things a little more towards the end, giving her five minutes of wildness before finally laying down next to her on the outer edge of the wide couch. She snuggles into him, burrowing her face into his chest as he hugs her closer to him, the warmth between them being the only thing clothing their naked bodies from the cool night air.

He brushes his lips across her forehead, leaving lingering kisses on her skin and rubbing his hand slowly across her back, whispering, "I love you, sweet baby, more than you'll ever know."

She lightly caresses his chest and says softly, "I love you, too, Fitzy. And thank you."

"For what?" He says, fixing his head on top of hers.

"This has been amazing—this whole trip, and thank you for putting so much thought into my birthday. This is one that I'll never forget and I can't wait to add today to my necklace. I can only imagine what we're going to do for our honeymoon."

"That means that we're getting married then? Someday…" Fitz trails off and she can tell that he's envisioning that day.

She smiles. "Yeah, someday."

"How many kids would you want? I was thinking four."

She chuckles. "Four?"

"Yeah, I've always wanted a big family, maybe because I grew up so alone, but this way none of them will ever get bored or lonely if it's always a full house."

"That makes sense, but I pictured at most two. I don't know if I could handle giving birth four times."

"Unless you were to have multiple babies in one delivery—quadruplets, maybe," he says with a sly smirk.

She laughs nervously. "Oh, gosh, can you imagine having four little babies running circles around us, all the same age?"

"I'd be by your side throughout it all and I know that we would be the best parents in the world together. Besides, if all of our babies look like you, there won't be a problem for me."

"I hope that all of our babies have those gorgeous blue eyes of yours—and if we have any boys they all have that adorable Superman curl," she says, looking up at him and flicking at the curl.

"I always imagined us having a girl first," she tells him, surprised at how much time she's actually spent thinking about their future, especially a future family. "And her name would be Joy, you know, after your mom."

"Really? You would be fine with that?" he says, with an anticipatory look in his eyes.

"Of course, I know how much you loved her and how important she was to you, so it would be perfect. Besides, I think that Joy is a beautiful name."

He smiles happily at her and kisses her nose.

"And if we have boys we could name the first one Fitzgerald Grant IV and continue the family name."

"Oh, no, Liv, then we'd end up naming him Gerry for short and the last thing I want is to think of my dad whenever I say our son's name."

"Fitz, it wouldn't be that bad—and plus I really love the family name. It's so vintage in a cool way."

He sighs. "What if it was a variation of the name? Like Jeremy or Jeremiah."

"I like Jeremiah, maybe with a G instead of J to keep the Grant-ness in there."

He laughs. "So, Geremiah with a G…I like it. And I can't wait to put a ring on your finger someday soon," he says, kissing her temple.

She smiles into his chest. "I can't wait to be your wife someday soon."

**Like I said, this was a pretty happy chapter since I thought it'd be nice for our couple to take a break from all the strife, so I hope that you enjoyed all the love. Also, that song I used"Murder She Wrote" in here for olitz's dance was in the movie Save the Last Dance which Kerry Washington was in about 14 years ago, so that's where I got that from. You should watch it if you haven't, good movie. Anyway, how do you feel about their new relationship? What do you think Eli will do after his and Olivia's conversation? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	14. What's Love Got To Do With It?

**I'm back! I'm sorry that it's been a month since I last posted but life has gotten really busy since I started school again but I will try not to stay away for so long again. Now, I give you the long-awaited chapter 14.**

**Chapter 14: What's Love Got To Do With It?**

Fitz had been trying to focus on their games of chess for the past hour and half, and he was surprised they had been playing for so long since she said she had never played before but they were on their third game and she had managed to beat him twice already even though he was supposed to be better than her. Fitz blamed his losing, though, on the fact that he couldn't concentrate with her, looking so perfect and only being three feet away from him. After their first match, he had wanted to just forget the game altogether and get his hands all over her in every way possible, but she had wanted another round, so he reluctantly agreed. He had been aching all day to be inside of her and it wasn't made any easier by seeing her in a revealing bikini top and even more revealing shorts that he would never feel comfortable having any other guy see her in. She was sitting on their blanket, facing him with the chess board in between them, with her knees pulled into her chest and a pensive expression on her face as she was deciding on what her next move would be. His mouth was watering just looking at her gorgeous, pouty, full lips and he could hardly stop himself from going over to her and nibbling on her bottom lip, hearing her moan pleasurably in his mouth while he slid his hands all over her perfect, round—

"Checkmate!" She exclaims with a satisfactory grin on her face.

Fitz shakes himself out of his dirty thoughts. "Wait—what?"

"I win—again. There's no possible way to have avoided your king from being captured, so checkmate."

He sighs, genuinely embarrassed that he lost again. "Damn, Liv, that's three times in a row. I thought you said you didn't know how to play."

"I _don't_ know how to play. I guess it's just beginner's luck…" she says with a mischievous smile that tells Fitz something is not quite right. She had behaved a little timid in their first game but after that she had gained some mild confidence and now she was glowing like she had just won an Olympic gold medal.

"Mmhmm…see I'm not so sure about that. I've been playing for a couple years now and I've managed to get pretty good but you, my dear, are playing like a grand master, so you can see how I would be a little skeptical of what you're saying," he says, leaning towards her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says with a nervous smirk.

Fitz starts to crawl towards her, knocking the chess pieces off the board. "Mmm, I think you do." But before he can reach her, she takes off running, sending sparks of sand flying into his face as she laughs wildly.

"Oh, no, you don't." He speeds right after her like a cheetah, quickly closing off the space between him and his prey—and in this case as well, he couldn't wait to eat her up. As soon as he reaches her, he scoops her up at the waist, hoisting her up on his shoulder with one arm and walking back to their blanket as she hollers and laughs out his name.

"What you did in those chess games wasn't very nice."

"I'm sorry!" she cries out.

"What was that, Livvie?"

"I said, I'm sorry!" she yells in the middle of her giggling.

He carries her back to their blanket and lays her down, slipping himself between her legs and hovering above her. "You were very naughty," he says with mock seriousness.

"Well, you were very arrogant," she retorts playfully, hooking her arms around his neck as she runs her dainty fingers through his curls, giving him such a pleasurable sensation. He does recall maybe being a little arrogant because he was trying to show off to her but in the end she had shown him who was in control.

He was about to get to work on her but somehow she manages to gain the upper hand on him and flips them over so that she's now on top, pinning his arms to the sand. He could easily flip them back over, since he liked to be the dominate one in their sexcapades, but he was so turned on by how she looked, hanging over him with her legs spread out on either side of him and her bikini top exposing part of her breasts as she gives him a devilishly sexy grin. He feels himself rapidly hardening as she continues to take charge. He smiles back at her and asks, "So, what are you going to do to me, then?"

She's about to reply when she glances to her left and sees a group of what looks like two senior citizens staring back at them about fifty feet away.

"Looks like we have an audience," Olivia says, climbing off of him.

Fitz groans as he gets up and dusts the sand off of his trunks. They slowly make their way over to the couple, a man and a woman, who smile uneasily back at them and look just as embarrassed as Olivia and Fitz feel.

Fitz notices Olivia fixing her hair up as he struggles to make the bulge in his pants go down by trying to get rid of the thought of Olivia hovering over him and how close he was to ravaging her just moments ago.

Once they make it to the two couples, Fitz has finally calmed down enough and smiles slightly at the seniors, saying politely, "Um, I'm sorry, sirs and maams, but this is a private beach."

He gets a better look at their faces and immediately recognizes one of them. "Laurel?"

The short, tanned, bushy gray-haired woman smirks at him. "I thought that I recognized you, too. How is my Fitzboy? You certainly look a lot better—healthy and strong. And you have _another_ lady friend." She says the last part with a forceful smile, looking critically at Olivia.

He senses Olivia fall back a little at Laurel's gaze which immediately upsets him and makes him feel irked at Laurel but he quickly grips Olivia's hand tighter and pulls her to his body, hooking his arm around her waist to assure her and show them that she's not just _another_ lady friend.

"Actually, Laurel, this is my girlfriend Olivia. And Liv, this is Laurel. She was my grandma's sister." Suddenly Laurel's whole demeanor changes at the word 'girlfriend' and her hostile stare turns completely friendly as she stretches her arm out to Olivia, who hesitantly takes it and they shake.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you," Laurel says, now smiling sincerely but looking at Olivia with curiosity in her eyes. "This is my husband, Charles, we tied the knot two years ago." She gestures to the tall, bald man on her right who gives Olivia and Fitz a friendly smile.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Olivia says to him and he greets back as she and Fitz exchange handshakes with him.

"So, what are you two doing here?" Laurel asks. "You haven't been here in ages, Fitzgerald."

"Well, Olivia and I decided to spend the last week and a half of our winter vacation here. We go back to the US in two days. Sorry I didn't tell you that I was here," Fitz says with a sincerely apologetic expression. He hadn't been too close to Laurel for the past three years since he had basically severed his connections with any of his family members and close friends after his mom died. The last time he had seen or even talked to Laurel had been at the funeral, so while he was glad to see the woman who had been a good friend and somewhat of a motherly-figure to him when he was growing up, there was still some awkwardness between them.

"Oh, that's—that's okay. I'm sure you two were plenty busy," she says with a mischievous smile that makes both Fitz and Olivia blush. "But if you aren't busy tonight, I would love for us to all maybe do dinner tonight. I have the perfect place in mind."

Fitz looks back at Olivia to see if she'd be okay with it and she gives him an uncertain expression but eventually smiles at Laurel and Charles and nods, saying, "Tonight is great. What time did you have in mind?"

"Um, how about 7:30?"

Fitz glances at Olivia and she nods. "That works."

Laurel and Fitz exchange phone numbers and she tells them where the place is. "Well, great, then. I'm looking forward to learning more about you guys." They all say their goodbyes and then the elderly couple starts back towards where they came from.

"You didn't tell me that your grandma had a sister," Olivia says, looking up at him.

Fitz shrugs. "I guess it just never came up in conversation. Besides, I haven't really talked to her in a while, not since my mom's funeral."

Olivia nods understandingly. "Oh…were you guys close?"

"Kind of. I would see her sometimes during holidays or in the summer and I saw her a lot when my grandma and mom passed away, so we got closer then but, I don't know, things just became too much and I disconnected myself from anything or anyone that reminded me of her," he says, referring to his mom. He keeps his gaze focused on the ground, not wanting Olivia to see how vulnerable he feels in that moment but he should've known that she wouldn't just let it go.

"Fitz…" She puts her hand to his cheek to turn his face down to her but he struggles against her.

"Fitz," she says again. "Look at me." He finally does as she says but this only enhances his feelings because looking into her eyes only makes him want to be honest.

"Tell me what's wrong," she says.

He shakes his head, his eyes darting away from her. "It's nothing."

"It's something. I know you, Fitz. Let me help you."

"It's nothing that you can help—it's nothing that I can even help. I just…I have regrets. People that I turned away from, people who I disappointed, people who I turned my back on because I was in such a deep hole of sadness and anger when my mom died. Life really wasn't that bad before then. I had people that cared about me or who I at least _thought_ cared about me then, but now they're all gone and you're all I have left. And I know that you love me, Liv, and you say you'll never leave me and I love you to death, but I've just let down so many people in my life. Seeing Laurel has reminded me of that and I never want to let you down like that. I always want to be there when you need me, I always want to be your knight in shining armor, and the one you can count on, but I'm just afraid of disappointing you and not being enough. I know you think that I'm perfect but I'm broken."

She stares him for a long second, making Fitz wonder what's going through her head but she finally says something,."I'm broken, too. I know you think that I'm perfect but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Life hasn't always been the perfect ride that everyone expects it has, even coming from money. I grew up with parents that were for the majority of the time emotionally absent—my Dad was angry, manipulative, and verbally abusive and my mom was hardly any better since she was always fearful of my father. For a lot of my childhood I also lived in fear but I eventually had to stand up and be strong for my brother and myself. You've dealt with a lot in your life too—a father who was never there for you, your mother dying when you needed her most, people you thought cared about you and would come after you in your hardest time all deserting you—but all these things have made you stronger. You've made some mistakes but we all make mistakes. I know you're not perfect, Fitz, and I don't need you to be. I know sometimes that you're going to disappoint me and I'm going to disappoint you and that the road won't always be smooth but you are enough for me and I'm proud to be in your life and stand by your side. And no matter what happens, these things will always hold true. We are in this together, remember?"

He responds by gently pressing his lips to hers and lingering there for several seconds before he pulls away slightly and says against her mouth, "Yes, we are…how do you always know the right things to say?"

She just smiles back in response, taking his hand in hers and they walk back to the beach house.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

"Liv, either dress is fine. Stop worrying," Fitz tells her as she holds up two summer dresses, a forest green one and a pearly white one, both of which she would look spectacular in but no matter how many times he told her that, she continued to stress.

"_Fine_? I can't just look fine. I have to look great." She groans and mutters, "In a time like this, it would be really nice to have a girl around."

Fitz sighs dejectedly. "I'm trying here. I personally think that you look perfect just naked." He wriggles his eyebrows at her with a naughty smile but in return she gives him a less than impressed look, rolling her eyes at him as she heads to the bathroom.

Fitz reconsiders his approach and thinks of something that will make her happy and give him an opportunity to ask for some sexy time from her. He had been waiting all day and he would've gotten some if Laurel and her husband hadn't interrupted, but now it was becoming unbearable. His drive would not give him a break, especially since she was basically half naked in her two-piece bikini.

He picks up the white dress as she walks back into the bedroom, and says, "I like this one. It really brings out your complexion and your eyes. Oh, and the accompanying brown belt looks _so_ cute." He sees her mouth crack into a small smile so he continues, "I think you should wear your hair up in a high ponytail or down in loose curls. And those lacy white Toms would _totally_ top the whole look off."

She bursts into laughter as she walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest as he embraces her back.

"Like I said, I'm trying here," he tells her, pulling her backwards with him until his knees hit the bed. He sits down on it and opens up his legs up so that she can stand in between.

She smiles back at him. "I know and thank you for trying. I think I will take your suggestions into consideration."

"Good. I knew that I had a bit of fashion sense in me, but don't expect me to pull out the female Fitz card often. I am the man in this relationship," he says, puffing out his chest.

She laughs again. "Alright, mister."

"I was also wondering if you'd take another one of my suggestions into consideration," he says with his trademark naughty smile as he slips his fingers under the waistband of her shorts, slightly tugging them down.

"Fitz…we don't have time. I only have two hours to get ready and I want to look good for this."

"No matter what you will look fantastic and I'm just asking for fifteen minutes. Please, baby, I've been aching for this all day," he tells her, burrowing his face in her chest and softly nibbling at the top of her breasts.

He hears her stifle a moan and he tries to further convince her by slowly removing her shorts and letting them fall to the ground. She finally gives in, saying, "Fine, fifteen minutes."

He puts his hands on the back of her thighs and carries her onto his lap, about to go for her neck but she pulls back before he can get to work. "Liv…?"

"You know that fifteen minutes on the bed is going to turn into thirty. Let's do shower sex, instead," she tells him with a sly grin. He ponders this for a second and even though it'll be less comfortable than the bed, he's still getting what he wants.

They undress quickly with Fitz rapidly hardening at the sight of her bareness and his excitement. They step into the shower together which has enough space to be classified as a medium-sized closet. She lets him take the reins and ravage her in every way he pleases. By the end of their fifteen minutes she's barely standing and ends up taking a seat on the shower bench while Fitz gets down on one knee and bathes her, taking his time running his fingers over her incredibly smooth skin. When he's done, she's able to stand again and begins to lather and rinse him, not missing a single inch of his body and fitting in a soft kiss every now and then. Even though they only spend thirty minutes bathing, to Fitz it feels like hours—blissful, wet, passionate hours of just them with no mask of any kind in between.

When they're done Fitz carries Olivia back to the bedroom, wrapping her up in a towel, and applying lotion to her skin, even though he doesn't need to, but he does anyway because he wants to continue to feel her touch.

After he helps her zip up her dress, he kneels at her feet as she sits back down on the bed and smiles up at her, taking her hand in his and caressing it. "See, gorgeous." She takes his cheeks in her hands, bringing his face up to hers and kisses him, gently at first but soon it turns ravenous as he ends up on top of her on the bed. He stops them before they can go further, knowing that she needs enough time to get ready so that she doesn't stress out.

She goes back into the bathroom to press her hair while he struggles with finding something good to wear. He had first settled on just a v-neck and some cargo shorts, but now that he had seen how spectacular Olivia looked, he wanted to at least try to match with her. He thought of wearing jeans and a tank but it was too warm for jeans and he was afraid that the tank would make him seem to informal. _Wow, I really am starting to think like a girl_, Fitz notices. He slips on his boxers and goes to check Olivia out. She's about three quarters done straightening when she notices him leaning on the doorway through the mirror and they both smile at each other.

At first she hadn't liked him watching her press her hair but over time she had gotten used to it and once in a while even let him help her, even though he was extremely clumsy with the hair tools.

"How come you aren't dressed yet?" She asks.

"I can't figure out what to wear," he says with a chuckle as he walks up to the counter and sees some stubble.

"So, you can help me figure out an entire outfit but you're struggling with your guy wardrobe."

"Precisely! It's very frustrating, I don't know how you women struggle with trying to decide on what to wear everyday," he says as he grabs his shaving stick and cream and gets to work.

She has a ponderous look on her face as she suggests, "Try that baby blue polo of yours with the tan cargo shorts and those leather moccasins. That should look good."

As soon as he's done shaving, he exits the room and does as she said. He thinks he looks good enough and when he goes back into the bathroom to ask Olivia, she tells him that he looks 'delicious', making him smile. She decides to go with the loose curls and once she's done with the last of her makeup, Fitz takes this as the perfect time to get his hands back on her, sliding his arms around her waist and positioning his head on top of her shoulder as they look at each other in the mirror together.

"You look absolutely lovely, but you didn't need me to tell you that," Fitz says taking in her snow white angelic appearance in the dress that he picked out. Her makeup is mostly neutral, showing off her naturally beautiful features with some mascara and dark eye shadow which gives off the idea of her not being totally innocent. She was stunning.

"Thank you, kind sir. And may I say that you look sexy as hell," she says breathily, biting down on her lip. He presses his bulge into her behind and slides his hand up her dress, squeezing her ass hard and getting a squeal out of her. He lowers his tone a full octave and says into her ear, "I'm glad you think so, Livvie, because after this dinner tonight, as soon as we get back we have another date with our bed that lasts _all night_."

He runs his hands along her thigh, causing her to moan out in frustration at his teasing, "Gosh, Fitz…if we didn't have to go out to dinner soon, I would totally take you right here."

"I know, but that might not be such a good idea, considering that we almost broke the cabinet _and_ the mirror last time."

"That was not my fault," she says defensively.

"Oh, yes, it was—you talking dirty to me and only being wrapped in a towel are perfect reasons for crazy sex."

She laughs. "Ok, mister, we need to get going."

He sighs. "I know." He takes his hand out from under her dress and lays one last affectionate kiss on her neck before they exit the bathroom and head out.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

It takes them thirty minutes to drive to the restaurant, which is right on the edge of the beach and gives a perfect view of the ocean. A waitress guides Olivia and Fitz to Laurel and Charles, who are already seated at a table outside. As they walk, Fitz figures that Olivia must've felt him absentmindedly creeping his hand down lower towards her ass so she elbows him. "Hey. Behave, we're in public."

"Sorry, baby, you're just _so damn_ _sexy_," he says seductively, pecking her on the cheek, making her giggle.

They sit down with the elderly couple, who immediately throw questions at Fitz and Olivia in a polite but somewhat overwhelming way, but they're able to keep up and answer comfortably and by the end of the dinner, the whole group is getting along swimmingly, especially Olivia and Laurel, who is now treating Olivia like a daughter. Once they're all done, the restaurant photographer takes photos of them posing by an ice sculpture of a dolphin, since the pictures come complementary with the dinner. They do a few pictures with the whole group, a few with the just the elderly couple and a few with just Olivia and Fitz—one with his arms around her, one with her giggling as he gives her a wet kiss on the cheek, and a goofy one, which all turn out really well.

As they walk back to their cars, Olivia and Charles engage in a heated conversation about criminal law while Fitz and Laurel hang back.

"Thank you for agreeing to this, Fitz, it's been really nice to see you again."

"It's been nice seeing you, too, Laur. I promise that we'll still keep in touch and I'll try not to be so much of a stranger from now on."

"Thank you, that's all that I ask. You've really turned out to be quite an impressive young man—you're on your way to having a successful career, you have dreams and goals you want to accomplish, and you've managed to find yourself an equally impressive young woman."

Fitz chuckles and flushes. "Yeah, Liv, she's…amazing. I'm really lucky to have her in my life."

"She does seem amazing—she's smart, sweet as a cherry, strong-willed, and no doubt breathtakingly beautiful and just as charming as you. At first, I may have jumped to conclusions because I thought that she was just another girl that you were sleeping with, but you don't bring just any girl with you for a week-long vacation. You must be serious."

Fitz nods. "I'm very serious. I love her so much and I want to make her my wife someday but…"

"But?"

"We've talked about our future together but things are just really complicated with our families. I just don't want to lose her, you know? It would be the worst thing that could happen to me."

"Why are things so complicated?"

Fitz sighs. "Her father wouldn't approve of me because of the color of my skin and Big Gerry would disapprove of her for the same reason, which is why he's thrown me out in the cold and that's alright, I'm not worried about that, I'm a big boy, but Liv…she's still pretty young and I'm afraid that when we come out to her father, something, either him or some other force will find a way to come in between us."

"Is her father also a prominent figure like Big Gerry?"

"Yeah…he's very important, especially in the world of law."

"Well, I don't know exactly how to help the situation but all I can tell you is to follow your heart. If she really is as important to you as you say she is, do whatever it takes to keep her and make the relationship work. I can tell that she really loves you, too. She looks at you the same way I used to look at my ex-husband before he passed and the way I now look at Charles. What you guys have is real and special and you should hold on to it for dear life."

Fitz nods, determined to make this work as the wheels in his mind start turning for a solution. Once they reach their cars, they all say their goodbyes. Laurel gives Olivia a hug after telling her to take care of Fitz for her, which Olivia promises to do. They drive back to the beach house, both of them glad that the night went as well as they hoped. Olivia tells him that she wants to watch the stars on the beach so as soon as they get to the house, they grab a duvet cover, a couple blankets and pillows, and secure a spot not too far from the shore.

After about an hour and a half of star-gazing and just talking, Olivia says something that surprises him. "You said that we had a date with our bed tonight but I want to make love to you right now, right here on this beach."

Fitz smiles. "Okay."

"Okay." She climbs onto him, straddling his waist and grins sweetly at him as she slips her hands under his shirt and runs them sensually over his chest. Then she suddenly pushes him roughly so that he's now laying down, which surprises him a little since he had been so entranced by her eyes and her touch, but now he chuckles at her familiar rough behavior. She slowly slides herself in between his legs and positions herself on him, sliding her tongue against his skin and making her way up to his lips where she lays a delicate kiss. She continues to slowly and softly peck at his mouth, causing him to moan out in between, "Liv…"

She decides to quit teasing him and slips her tongue into his mouth, kissing him with everything in her as she rakes her fingers through his soft curls. She pulls away from his mouth after a while and kisses her way up his jawline to his ear, flicking her tongue inside, making him go hard in the process.

"Oh, baby…" he groans as she nibbles on his lobe and caresses one of the sweet spots behind his ear. She scoots up on him so that his face is level with her chest as she holds his face firmly and continues to ruffle through his hair while leaving wet kisses all over his forehead. Fitz drags his tongue across her collarbone as he puts his hands on the back of her thighs and glides his hands up her body, causing a moan to escape from her lips. He feels complete bliss in this moment and even though he had wanted to get inside her as soon as possible earlier, that urgency isn't there right then. In this moment, he just wants to feel her—her warmth, her skin, her lips, and most of all her love in any way she wants to show him. So they take their time, their hands all over each other as they enjoy the company and touch of each other and slowly shed their clothes and kiss until they're both utterly breathless. They make love slowly to each other, with neither of them wrestling for control but both working together to reach each other's needs and make something beautiful, relishing in the hot, passionate connection being exchanged between their minds, bodies, and souls. They take their time because in this moment they both feel as if they have all the time in the world. No worry can penetrate the bond they have right now. Fitz feels invincible in this moment and takes the opportunity to ask her what has been racking his brain since his conversation with Laurel.

He finishes his turn pumping her through but instead of collapsing right next to her, he stays connected on top of her as they exchange satisfactory smiles. He kisses her softly and then takes a deep breath before asking, "What if we got married, like, within the next few weeks?"

She chuckles. "Fitz…?" She stares back at him and cocks an eyebrow but when he doesn't say anything and keeps the same hopeful expression, she knows he's not playing around. "You're serious?"

"Yes, Liv, I want us to get married now."

"Fitz, you know we can't…this is…do you know how big of a step that is? How much responsibility would be involved?"

"Of course I do, but I'm ready to take that step with you, with us. I'm in love with you and I want to be able to call you all mine."

"I already am all yours."

"I know, but I want you on a bigger, more official scale."

She sighs. "What is this about? Why do you suddenly want to get married?"

"Because I love you, that's why, I am in love with you and I don't want anything to come in between us. I know that marriage won't ensure that but maybe it'll give us more of a fighting chance. And it wouldn't be that much different from the way we are right now."

"You mean a fighting chance against my father? Fitz, I've told you over and over again that no matter what happens, I will stand by you—"

"You're making light of our situation, Liv, you keep saying that everything will be fine but you don't know that. You've said before that taking on your father will be whole different ballgame compared to dealing with my dad and Mellie and I believe you but you just seem so calm and blithe about everything. It's like you don't even care," he says with a pained expression as he pulls out of her, getting up to look for his boxers.

She sits up, wrapping a blanket around her body and looks at him with a shocked expression. "How can you say that? How can you even _think_ that I don't care about our situation? I want this, Fitz, I want this just as much as you do, but all I'm saying is that marriage isn't the solution to our problems, it only further complicates the issue. Even if we could get my mom on board, which would still be really difficult to do, this would only further aggravate my father in a way that I don't think he could come back from."

"Your father is never going to be okay with us—whether we get married now or ten years from now so why are we wasting time?"

"Well, let's say that I came from a normal family and both my parents were fine with you. Would you still want to marry me right now or would you wait until we were both better established in life? I don't want us to make a lousy decision that's going to jeopardize our entire future. Your father has just disowned you—"

"I still have money—"

"But you're still learning how to live with much less than you had before and that's going to be a huge transition that you need time to get used to. I don't want the stress of our marriage, your finances, and dealing with my father to break us apart. I know you love me, and Fitz, you are my whole world, but we need to do this properly. We can't get married right now, we just can't…"

Fitz allows several seconds of silence before he says what's really been bugging him. "It's just that…I've given everything up for you, _everything_, but sometimes I'm not sure you want to do the same for me. You keep saying that everything will be fine but we don't know that and I know you want to come up with a plan that involves us staying together and you still being in his good graces but I think we both know that won't happen. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. I had to learn that the hard way." Fitz gathers up his clothes and starts towards the beach house, leaving her in their bundle of blankets.

As much as it bothers him to walk away from her, he was frustrated and angry and hurt and he needs some room. Maybe he was being impulsive with the marriage idea since he had gotten caught up in their moment of mind-blowing sex, but he still felt like sometimes he was the only one trying to make this relationship work, like he was the only one fully invested. And if she could stop trying to be so freakin' rational all the time, she would see where he was coming from. He understood that their entire relationship and her ties with her father were at risk here and he knew that she was still young and he was also pretty unexperienced when it came to love, but what he did know is that love is about taking chances, and if she wasn't going to take a chance with him, how long would they really last?

He grabs a duvet cover and a pillow out of the hallway closet and heads to the living room, deciding to take the couch for the night and let her have the bed if she chose to sleep inside. As much as he had wanted and planned on going to sleep with his arms around her like they had been every night, he didn't think it would feel right, especially since he was still angry. He wonders if Olivia will be coming inside anytime soon or if she'll sleep on the beach but after a while of wondering, he can't help but worry if she's okay so he quickly goes to the back of the house and sees her from the deck, sitting upright, looking out to the ocean like she's in deep thought. _That's my Liv, always thinking about something._

He goes back inside and gets comfortable on the couch, but even though he feels exhausted physically and emotionally, he can't fall asleep. An hour goes by and he hears what sounds like Olivia coming inside, figuring out that he's on the couch and presumably going to sleep in their bedroom. More time goes by and Fitz feels himself becoming even more awake with every nagging thought that comes to mind. He can't take the unrest anymore and reluctantly makes his way to the bedroom. He thought that he could maybe just slide into the bed and slip his arms around her carefully without waking her but as soon as he walks into the room, her open eyes dart from the ceiling to his frame standing in the doorway. She sits up and after a little hesitation, she speaks, fumbling over her words, "Fitz, I—I don't…I'm—"

"Just shut up," he tells her gently. "No talking." He goes over to his side of the bed and slides in, forcefully pulling her into him. He nuzzles his nose into her hair and her scent instantly calms him down. He feels her tense up at first but she quickly relaxes into him, entangling her legs with his as he moves his hand up the sweatshirt of his that she's wearing and rests his hand on her stomach, needing to feel her warm skin. With the two of them feeling absolutely comfortable, they both feel the sleep they had missed before coming over them and within minutes, they're both knocked out.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The following morning is quiet—uncomfortably quiet. They had woken up and eaten some cereal and now they were cleaning up the house a little. It was their last day of vacation on a tropical island and instead of enjoying it, they were cleaning. Olivia had silently initiated it and Fitz ended up going along with it, but it gave him something to do. He was becoming even more frustrated by the fact that he couldn't stop his junk from hardening at the sight of her in these hot pink shorts that hugged her ass perfectly. It was times like this when he really hated how much of an effect she had on him. They were cleaning the kitchen when Olivia finally decided to break the silence, but Fitz didn't want to hear it.

"Fitz, I—"

"Don't," he mutters.

She sighs and pauses for a few seconds before coyly saying, "I don't know what you want me to say."

He stops wiping the counter and faces her. "I don't want you to say anything. I don't need you to tell me that I'm being irrational or that you love me and you're sorry, I need you to _show_ me. This isn't even about us getting married anymore, I just…I want you to show me that you care about us and what happens with us, I want you to show me that we're going somewhere with this and that this isn't going to end in heartbreak. I want you to do something without deliberating like you're on some damn council. I…I want you to do something to show your faith in us. And I'm not going to tell you when or how to do that—that's a decision you have to make for yourself, so when you figure things out and _show_ me you're ready, then we can talk."

A few more antagonizing, quiet hours go by as Fitz cleans up the bathroom until he hears a thump come from the bedroom and Olivia whispering in an upsetting tone, "Oh, no…no, no, no."

He quickly makes his way to the bedroom and sees her kneeling at the bed with her phone in her hands.

"Liv, what's wrong?" Fitz asks, rushing to her side but all she does is look at him wordlessly, with tears forming in her eyes. He takes her phone from her hands and sees a voicemail playing. He puts the phone to his ear, unable to hear what's being said and automatically recognizes Nathan's wobbly voice: "Hi, Liv. I tried calling you a few times but the calls keep going straight to voicemail…I just, I don't know what to do anymore. I can't take things with Dad anymore, I—I told you I was fine but I'm not. I was hoping I could talk to you because I really need you right now, but I should've known that you would be busy and not have time for me. You never do anymore. I can't take my life like this anymore, so I'm going to end it."

**Oh, dang! And there we have Chapter 14. I hoped you liked this one, even though it ended on a pretty bad note. Will Nathan be okay or is it too late? Will Olitz be okay? How will they figure things out? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


	15. A New-found Sense of Confidence

**Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I'm going to really try to refocus on this story again and keep it going strong. I'm even thinking of doing a sequel since I love this Olitz so much, but let me not get ahead of myself—there's still a lot that needs to happen in this story and I can tell you that the ride is going to get slightly more bumpy so buckle up lol. Anyway, I give you chapter 15.**

**Chapter 15: A New-found Sense of Confidence**

"Livvie, please try to calm down. We still have four more hours," Fitz tells Olivia as they sit on the plane going back to the states. They had packed as fast as they could and booked the first flight available out of Fiji after hearing the voicemail from Nathan and calling Maya to ask what was going on with the situation, which happened two days ago. But luckily, one of the maids at Eli's mansion had found Nathan in his room after his overdose and they were able to get him to the hospital in time to stabilize him, pump his stomach, and eventually save his life.

Maya had explained to Olivia and Fitz that Nathan had been slowly getting better over the last two days and she said that they would possibly discharge him the next day if he continued to do well. But none of this news could calm Olivia's nerves down. He knew that she would have to see her brother with her own eyes before she believed anything she was told.

"I know, I know, I'm trying. It's just…do you really think he's okay?" She asks him for the tenth time that day.

"I'm pretty sure he's fine, baby. And if you really want, I can call your mom and see if she can maybe get him on the phone."

She slowly shakes her head. "No, it's okay." She pauses briefly before continuing, "I really want to see him but at the same time I'm afraid to talk to him and see the toll of what's been going on right under my nose. He may be okay now physically but mentally he still has a long way to go and this whole thing is partially my fault because I wasn't there for him when he needed me most. I don't know if I can face him knowing that."

"Liv, you can't blame yourself for this," Fitz tells her, taking her hand in his. "Your father is at fault here. He's the one who engendered this. And I know that you and Nathan are really close and you wish that you could've helped him, but the only way Nathan could've really been helped is if he had been as far away from Eli as possible as soon as your mother divorced him. This is _not_ your fault."

She looks back at him with those sad eyes and that pouty mouth that break his heart any time he sees them. He places his hand on her cheek, wishing he could kiss away all of her worries and fears but he knows that he can't. All he can do is be strong for her and be there for her.

"Try and get some rest. You won't be able to do much for Nathan if you're exhausted," he tells her, hugging her closer to him. She nods, laying her head on his shoulder and intertwines her fingers with his, gripping his hand tightly and he finally feels her start to relax for the first time in eight hours.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

The plane lands four hours later as planned and Olivia and Fitz head straight to the hospital in a taxi. Fitz reluctantly leaves Olivia at the hospital to go home and drop off their luggage, but promises to be on his way back as soon as he's done.

After affirming to the hospital that she's related to Nathan, they give Olivia his room number and she rushes there. As soon as the elevator doors opens on his floor, Olivia spots Maya, who is casually doing something on her phone, and walks dutifully over to her, calling out, "Mom!" She wonders why her mom isn't as frantic as she is but then she remembers that Nathan has been there for the past couple of days and has been doing pretty well. She knew Chris had been there earlier but had left to take care of Emmy and that Isaiah had also been there on Nathan's first day but had left shortly after Nathan stabilized because of work, though Olivia wasn't too surprised by this since Isaiah had never really been close with Nathan before—he almost treated Nathan as if he was nonexistent—and Isaiah had probably only showed up because it was appropriate to do so. She wonders where her father is but doesn't bother to ask—right now Nathan was most important and she didn't even want to picture the vile monster that she called her father.

Maya's head pops up at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Olivia," she says, hugging her and giving her a sympathetic look. She gestures towards a door a few feet away from them. "He's in there. He's doing well."

"Can I go in there?" Olivia asks anxiously, incapable of matching her mother's calm behavior until she sees with her own eyes that her little brother is indeed okay.

Maya nods. "I just went in about five minutes ago and he was pretty alert so I don't think he's going to sleep so soon."

Olivia takes a deep breath before placing her hand on the doorknob and slowly turning it. She walks into a normal-sized hospital room to see Nathan staring ponderously out the dark windows. Her mom was right, he did look alright—not too sickly and just a little tired which she can imagine why. It seems to take him a while to realize that she's standing there but as soon as he looks up and sees her, his facial expression switches from neutral to spiteful, making Olivia shrink back.

"Nathan—I…" she falters at a loss for words, not knowing how to even begin to explain to him how sorry she is. She sighs and decides to just take it slow. "How are you doing right now?"

"I'm fine," he mumbles somberly, looking away from her.

"D-do you need anything?" she asks, going to his side. "Some water? More pillows or blankets?"

"I'm fine," he reiterates, the annoyance coming out in his voice as he mutters, "I don't need anything from you."

Olivia literally flinches at the pain she feels from his words. Did she really hurt him this bad? She looks at him with a pleading expression as she apologizes, "Nathan…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for not being there for you. I didn't see that things with Dad were so bad and I should've. I'm so stupid for not seeing it. I'm sorry for what he's done to you but most of all I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me."

His face remains stoic as he continues not to face her. She begs, fearing that she really is still losing him, "Say something."

"I don't know what you want me to say," he says simply.

"Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help you."

He finally looks at her with angry and sad eyes. "You can't do anything, Liv."

"Yes, I can, just tell me what you need and I'll fix it—"

"You can't fix the fact that our father is a monster and that he hates me with a passion. You can't fix the fact that sometimes I wish that I had never been born…" he fades off quietly, shamefully looking down.

"Nathan…" Olivia takes his hand, gripping it tightly. "Please don't say that. I wouldn't be the same person I am today without you. My life wouldn't be the same without you in it—I would be miserable. You don't know how scared I was when I thought I had lost you," she says, starting to tear up. "It felt like a little part of me had died inside. You may think that I don't care about you or have time for you since I went off to college and now that I have a serious relationship with Fitz, but you'll always be one of the most important people in my life and hold a special place in my heart. I love you, Nathan, no matter how much anyone makes you feel unwanted or unloved, just know that I love you and I'm always going to need you in my life—never doubt that. So, don't say that you wish that you were never born. Please never say that again," she tells him as she reaches down to hug him and they both sob uncontrollably in each other's arms.

They stop crying after what feels like hours and Olivia pulls up a chair to sit next to Nathan. They look back at each other and after a while he says point-blank, "You look like crap."

She smiles at him. "I know, and I'm fine with that—as long as you're okay."

He shrugs. "I'll be okay, maybe not now but eventually…I'll be okay."

"Yes, you will. I'm going to make sure of it. I won't let anyone, much less Eli, hurt you like this again," she says, combing his unruly hair backwards like she's done thousands of times.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Olivia spends a little more time with Nathan, successfully getting him to laugh several times and playing a game of cards with him. Just in the two hours that she spends with him, she's reminded of how much she truly missed their time alone together and plans to make sure that they will have time like this together on a regular basis.

She leaves him to get some rest for the night and goes back out into the hallway to join her mom, but as she exits her brother's room, she's met with the scene of her mom _and_ her dad arguing and glaring like they want to kill each other. She tries to hear what they're saying but as soon as they spot her staring at them they stop.

"Olivia," he greets matter-of-factly. "I hope you had fun on vacation while your brother almost lost his life."

"Eli," Maya says, giving him a look.

He gives her an even meaner look, telling her to back off then turns back to Olivia, lowering his voice menacingly, "Going to college may have given you a new-found sense of confidence or rebelliousness but if you _ever_ hang up on me again or deliberately ignore me when I call, you will regret it."

Normally Olivia would've felt the least bit intimidated but he was right, she had found a new sense of confidence. She promised that she would do whatever it took to protect her brother and standing up to her father was the first step in doing so. "Do whatever you want to me but leave Nathan alone. The main reason he's here, lying in hospital bed right now is because of you."

"Because of me?" he says with a sardonic laugh. "What, because I tried to push him to do something better with his life besides dribble a ball around all day—it was too much for him to handle me telling him to shape up or ship out. Well, my mistake, then for caring about his future. How pathetic…"

"He's not pathetic! You abused him emotionally and verbally and you're calling it pushing him to be his best. And I know that's true because you did the same thing to me and Isaiah."

"But you two never tried to kill yourselves, and it would seem as if I did something right because Isaiah is following right in my footsteps and may do more than I could have ever dreamed of doing and you aren't far behind. You should be thanking me instead of whining to me about your coward of a brother and how evil I am."

"But you were terrible to him. You never treated him like a son, you never loved him the way you should've as his father. He needed affection, not you constantly talking down on him and telling him that he was never good enough," Olivia says, eyeing her mom and wondering why she isn't speaking up.

"Cuddly love and affection don't make successful people. If a person is constantly told that they're a winner no matter what they do, do you think they will try to be any better? No, it takes tough love and discipline to make a true winner, to become truly successful, and if he can't handle what it takes to be a winner in life then it's his own fault. All I know is that he doesn't get it from me—no one on my side of the family was ever so weak-minded to attempt such a spineless act!

Olivia was ready to burst with anger. She turns to her mom, doing her best not to reach out and choke her father and says evenly, "I want you to take Nathan home with you and keep him for as long as possible until you can get full custody. I don't want any more poison going into him from this ruthless human being."

Eli raises his eyebrows and says smugly, "Fine, take him, I don't need to waste my time with him any longer. If he wants to continue to be a pathetic, pampered failure, then you're more than welcome to take him Maya. Tell him I said goodbye." Without another word or glimpse in Nathan's direction, he turns his back on them and starts down the hallway.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After being dropped off at his apartment, Fitz drives himself to the hospital that Nathan is at and decides to sit in the waiting area. He wished that he could be with Olivia right now to keep her company and make sure that she was doing alright but he wasn't quite part of her family and he knew that she needed time alone with her brother. He ashamedly remembers how he had acted towards her earlier that morning and can't help but feel guilty now that she's dealing with Nathan's attempted suicide—the last thing she needed to worry about was their relationship issues. He loved her with his heart and soul and no matter what she did, even if she decided that she never wanted to see him again, he always would. She had such a strong hold on him. His heart would always belong to her no matter how angry or upset he got with her and he wanted to make sure that she knew that.

He decides to check some of his emails on his phone to get his mind off of things and after a few minutes he notices someone sit right next to him. He briefly looks up but does a double take when he realizes who just sat next to him.

"Hello," Eli says, with what could be barely classified as a smile. "Mind if I sit here?" He asks casually.

Fitz tries to maintain a steady heart rate as Eli takes the seat next to Fitz, not waiting for his response, even though there were plenty of other seats available. "No, not at all," Fitz replies, trying to keep a firm but friendly tone.

Eli stretches his legs, crossing one over the other, looking smugly calm as he says, "Don't you just hate hospitals? I find them ironic, really. For a place that's supposed to help and fill people with hope, there is still so much despair that fills these walls," he says with an awestruck expression. Did he recognize him or know something and was he playing games with Fitz? Or was he really just trying to be a polite, as far as polite went with Eli, stranger?

"Yep," Fitz agrees, nodding slowly.

"So, who is keeping you waiting tonight?" Eli asks like they're old pals

"It's my aunt. She was in a little car wreck and they rushed her over here so I'm just waiting to get some news on her and hopefully take her home," Fitz answers, surprised that the lie flowed out of his mouth so smoothly.

"Oh, what a shame. Hopefully she pulls through."

"Yeah...hopefully," Fitz says, side-eyeing Eli carefully. What was he trying at? Fitz was positive that Eli recognized him since he remembered how menacingly Eli had been staring at him as he danced with Olivia at that gala months ago. And Eli stroke Fitz as the type of person who remembered every person he came into contact with, like he kept a personal, mental record of everyone he met so that he could pull out a file on them when needed and use it to his advantage. Did he know about Fitz's and Olivia's relationship? A small part of him wished that was true so that they wouldn't have to hide anymore but Fitz felt like it should be up to Olivia for him to find out about them if he didn't know already, so he wasn't going to divulge anything, he would just continue to engage in Eli's little friendly stranger game. "And what about you?"

"Ah, just a little incident with a family member, nothing big." _I guess his own son nearly killing himself is classified as nothing big in his book. What kind of human being was this? _ Fitz asks himself.

Eli's phone rings and he quickly answers, exchanging a few 'yes's and 'okay's with whoever was on the line. He hangs up after a minute and gets up, saying, "Well, it was nice speaking with you. Best of luck to your aunt."

Fitz nods, forcing a smile. "Thanks. And best of luck to your…family member."

With that, he gets up and strides towards the exit, leaving Fitz wondering where he's heading to at 10 o' clock at night instead of staying with his son. Olivia walks into the waiting area, a contemptuous look passing between her and Eli before they both glance away and he walks out into the night.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

Fitz walks towards her and gestures for her to follow him down a hallway where they won't be seen by anyone from outside.

Olivia cocks her head at Fitz. "My father? What were you guys talking about?"

Fitz shrugs. "Hospital blues."

"He didn't…"

"No, he didn't suspect anything. He does know about us…" He pauses and she can sense him thinking about their discussion the night before. He looks back at her with genuine concern and asks, "How's Nathan doing?"

"He's doing well, physically. They should be discharging him in the morning, but mentally he still has a long way to go to even be back to normal again—whatever that is. Thankfully, he'll be going home with my mom and staying with her while he recovers. Hopefully she can get full custody of him after this."

"I hope so. Poor kid doesn't need to be filled with anymore of Eli's venom."

She nods and looks away from him as she says, "You can go home. You really don't need to wait here anymore since he'll be out in about five hours."

He looks at her incredulously. "Liv, no, I'm staying."

"It's seriously fine, Fitz—"

"No, I _am_ staying. I know that all I'm doing is waiting but I want to be here for you and him and I'm not leaving until all three of us walk out of here without any issues."

"Okay," she says, smiling at him slightly and wondering how she was so lucky to find someone like him. She remembers their conversation from several hours earlier and guilt takes over again. She really didn't deserve him.

"Hey." He cocks his head, looking at her sympathetically. "Come here," he says, taking her hands in his and pulling her to him into a warm hug. "Nathan's going to be fine. Everything will be fine."

Olivia feels herself relaxing at his touch and his words and feeling like he was also referring to them for a moment before she remembers where they are and how they can easily be seen by her father. She hates how much of a hold he has on her life—her relationship with Fitz had to remain a secret because of him, her brother had nearly killed himself because of him, she couldn't make her own life decisions because of him and she was sick of it. At this point, she was starting to become less fearful of disconnecting with him and more confident about the new life and sense of peace that would come with it. She was ready to be free.

She pulls back from Fitz and smiles at him and he does the same, kissing her forehead and then mumbling against her skin, "I love you, no matter what."

In this moment she's again reminded that nothing will break them apart, no matter how badly things go with her father, they would make it work somehow. There's no way she would lose Fitz and she was done holding out on full happiness.

She quickly pecks him on the lips. "I love you, too." She takes his hand and starts dragging him further down the corridor. "The cafeteria's closed so let's see if we can find a vending machine or something. I'm starving."

He smiles at her. "Candy and soda for dinner. I guess I'm down with that," Fitz says, following her.

After savaging a couple bags of chips, chocolate bars, and drinks from a vending machine on the previous floor and enjoying their not-so-fulfilling "meal", Olivia goes to check on her brother and talk to her mom, who's also staying the night, for a little bit before she returns to Fitz where they also try to get some sleep in the waiting area, but it proves to be more difficult to than they thought with all the mechanical noise from different hospital rooms, not to mention the totally uncomfortable chairs. Olivia eventually ends up on Fitz's lap and after a while they start to doze off, only to wake up an hour later in the early morning when Nathan is discharged. Olivia wants to go home with Nathan but he insists on being fine now and says that she can visit him later once she gets some sleep.

After reluctantly saying goodbye to her brother and mother, Olivia and Fitz finally head home. She plays music on the way to keep them both awake, but she finds herself still dozing a little regardless and spots Fitz nodding off a few times. They arrive at the apartment half an hour later, happy that they'll have a nice warm bed to rest in but as they sluggishly wait on elevator, the last thing either of them want to deal with or even thought of running into is the person waiting angrily at their apartment door. If Olivia had been more alert, she would've recognized this person's car in the parking lot since there was already a bad memory associated with it, but now both she and Fitz are fully awake as Mellie smiles scornfully at them and says, "Look who finally decided to turn up! You two have a long night?"

**And there you go. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! So, do you think that Nathan will eventually be okay? Did you like Olivia getting in her father's face? How do you think she'll tell him about Fitz? Does Eli already know about her and Fitz and is he playing games with them? What do you think he'll do when he finds out about them if he doesn't already know? What about Mellie? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!**


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